Don't Say A Word
by deathsweetqueen
Summary: Caroline had always kept her secrets close to her chest, until one Klaus Mikaelson comes back to town on the eve of one of her best friends' death. Suddenly, she and her friends start receiving ominous text messages, threatening to destroy their entire lives and perhaps, even them. Pretty Little Liars AU.
1. Cold Kisses on the Cheek

**Cold Kisses on the Cheek**

 _Okay, so this is for Klaroline AU week and I suppose it's for both Day 4 and Day 5. This is dedicated to my-light-into-the-darkness because she requested a Pretty Little Liars AU and we were talking about it ages ago. This is like the first drabble in an ongoing series called 'Dirty Little Secrets'. And I hope you guys enjoy it. By the way, disclaimer alert, I don't own anything in this drabble that remotely resembles Pretty Little Liars or The Vampire Diaries._

* * *

Elena Gilbert – all doe eyes and sweet smile – was the devil incarnate.

She had the ability to make you love her, idolise her, envy her and despise her all at the same time.

That was why, when she disappeared, Caroline had to admit to the relief that bloomed in her chest at the absence of the chaos that Elena usually brought along with her.

It was jarring, when they realised Elena had disappeared and was quite possibly never coming back.

And when they found her rotting corpse sitting up in her house, well, Caroline's heart broke for the girl who had simultaneously been her rival and her sister – the second thump to her heartbeat, the other half of her.

And then they had to bury her.

* * *

The funeral was surreal – to say the least.

The four girls had their hands clasped in each other's, as they walked, slowly, to the front of the church, where the coffin lay ominously.

To say goodbye to the girl who had brought them together and in death, pulled them apart.

They bowed their heads over the coffin, imagining the pristinely white skin of the girl who had tortured them mercilessly with her sharp smiles and sly jabs that clawed underneath their skin, but had still managed to envelop four lost girls into her warm, toxic embrace in a show of what they had first interpreted as pure compassion.

They could picture the way Elena's eyelids were shut, perfect doe eyes that managed to fool anyone and everyone hidden from view, her lips thin and pinker than what one would normally expect from a corpse, but Caroline expected that was the mortician's work.

But the coffin was shut and these were all just delusions.

Delusions that accompanied the torturous task of putting one of their best friends away into the earth for good.

But Caroline was sure of one thing: even while rotting inside a coffin, Elena Gilbert would still manage to look beautiful.

Katherine tugged on Caroline's hand, insistently, and the four walked like zombies over to the nearest bench behind the altar where the coffin was placed. They sat, quietly, in a row, hands still clasped in one another's, as if they would join Elena if they let go for a brief moment.

Caroline licked her lips, nervously, and her head tilted to the side as Katherine dug her hand into her purse, pulling out a small metal flask. Katherine took a deep swig and handed it over to Caroline, who gratefully took it with both hands and sipped at the harsh liquid inside, her face grimacing.

 _Oh, well, I'm not drinking it because it tastes good. I'm drinking it so I can actually make it through this craziness._

When she held it out to Bonnie to join them, Bonnie's eyes widened, comically, and she shook her head.

"Really?" She hissed. "Did you have to bring that here?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Come on, Bon-Bon, don't you think this calls for getting hammered?"

"There are way too many parents around." Caroline, grudgingly, admitted. "And I really don't want to be the next cautionary tale at the next PTA meeting."

Rebekah snorted. "Yeah, wouldn't want to ruin that perfect Mary Jane 'goody-two-shoes' thing you've got going on." She purred.

Caroline gritted her teeth. "You know what, Rebekah-" She began to whisper back, hotly.

Whispers blew up behind them and Caroline turned her head, curiously, to see what could possibly be more interesting than the murdered sixteen-year-old girl lying in the coffin in front of them, and froze. Their eyes met and Caroline's breath caught in her throat, her grip tightening just the slightest on Katherine's hand, who squeezed back, reassuringly.

"Rebekah," Caroline hissed, her teeth bared in a snarl. "Why didn't you tell me your brother was back?"

Rebekah snorted. "What? You think I keep track of all my brother's movements?" She raised an incredulous eyebrow.

Caroline glared at her and she sighed, relenting grudgingly, her stomach knotting with guilt. Caroline was her sister, after all. Like Katherine and Bonnie. The closest thing she had to sisters. More so than Hayley, at least. She owed that bitch no loyalty. Like the brunette lying in the coffin in front of her.

Was it cruel of her to say that she was glad that Elena was dead? Maybe. But she had spent her entire friendship with Elena pretending to like the sociopathic, blackmailing, two-faced bitch, knowing that the brunette could sense deceit from a mile away and she had no intention of losing Caroline, Katherine or Bonnie for a slight slip in her mask. At least in death, she could be more liberal with her distaste and still keep her girls – who had finally begun to see how the weed that was Elena Gilbert had wrapped around their lives and squeezed and squeezed.

Rebekah pursed her lips. "My father intends on making sure that Klaus completes his penance for what _he_ did to that bitchy stepsister of mine by becoming her shadow and bodyguard etc. To be honest, it's not something that really interests me." She said, blithely.

"Be nice," Bonnie said, lowly. "We did that to her, remember."

"Bonnie!" Katherine hissed. "Not the thing to admit to in front of a murdered corpse. This place is crawling with cops." She eyed the pews, suspiciously.

Caroline had to agree with Katherine on this one.

'The Hayley thing' was off limits to all of them – none of them wanted to give voice to what was quite possibly their darkest hour.

And forgive Caroline for saying, but staying away from Klaus Mikaelson was probably the best thing to do in the circumstances, considering the part they had played in Hayley's blindness. She remembered that night with vivid clarity. She remembered Klaus' sombre look when Elena threatened him with whatever she had on him. She remembered the way their eyes had clashed when he looked at her over Elena's shoulder. Cornflower blue met aquamarine and Caroline's heart clenched and she looked away, shamefaced.

She supposed she'd never get a chance with him in the end. She had ruined it for herself the second she let herself get sucked into Elena's macabre revenge plot.

He'd never want her the way she wanted him.

Not after what had went down.

All those secret looks over biology textbooks in the lunchroom disappeared in a flash when he was sent to reform school. The way her heart jumped in her chest when she laid eyes on his tousled blonde curls and glinting blue eyes was replaced by her stomach churning with guilt and regret every time she saw his empty seat to her left in Algebra. Her dreams of the way his hands slid over her soft skin, his hips slotting between her thighs, the arch of her back with every thrust and his teeth grazing her neck were now curdled sickly by the reminder of the part she had played in his ruin.

 _Stop thinking, Caroline. You have Damon now. Klaus is in the past and it was never really anything anyway. Just a few love-starved looks from across the cafeteria and drunken hook-ups or two at a few parties. Your best friend just died. Focus on that._

"Tactful to the end, Katherine." Rebekah said, dryly.

Katherine shrugged. "She's dead. What can I do about it?"

"She's your cousin." Caroline reminded her.

Katherine's eyes tightened, imperceptibly. "I mourned her a year ago. I'm not going to mourn her again." She said, grimly. "Now back to the reappearance of the Wicked Witch of the West and her creepy bodyguard." Caroline glared at her. "Oh, wait, sorry, I forget you had a thing for him, right?" A devious smile played on her lips.

"That was years ago." Caroline said, coldly. "It… he means nothing to me now." She sniffed, running her hand through her hair. "I'm over him."

Katherine coughed. "You're not a good liar, Care." She said, pointedly.

"And this is inappropriate conversation for one of our best friend's funeral." Caroline shot back.

Rebekah nodded. "For once, I actually agree with Kat. I'd rather not talk about you wanting to screw my brother." She grinned to herself.

Caroline gritted her teeth. "Look," She bit out. "I'll admit I may have had a thing – _a very small thing_ – for Klaus _years ago_. I was hormonal and stupid and he was hot and nice, I'm not going to deny that. But the Hayley thing happened and… well, now, nothing could ever happen between us. We'd never work out." Her voice lowered, colouring with pain and grief. "He probably hates me now, anyway." She murmured.

Rebekah swallowed hard, shifting in her seat until she could see Klaus' impassive form out of the corner of her eye, pain striking her hard in the chest. "If it makes you feel better, because of _Elena_ ," She said, bitterly. "He hates _me_ too." She said, hoarsely.

Caroline flinched and reached over Bonnie's lap to squeeze Rebekah's hand for a moment before pulling her hand back to fold over her thighs. Bonnie bumped her shoulder against Rebekah's in a show of solidarity which Rebekah returned with a trembling smile, the loss of her brother because of her own stupidity and selfishness glinting in her blue eyes. Katherine's eyes darted to the way Caroline's hands clenched and unclenched over her lap, her eyes shifting focus from the coffin at the front to somewhere on their right, where she guessed Klaus was seated. She bit her lip and hooked her arm in Caroline's, her hand falling on top of hers and their fingers entwining.

Katherine may not be one to shower affection on people but Caroline was one of her girls and _she was hurting_ and she hated seeing the bubbly blonde sunshine girl hurt. No matter how much Caroline wanted to deny it, her feelings for Klaus ran deep. She had been the one that Caroline had confided in about the few drunken hook-ups she and Klaus had shared at the odd party, Caroline feeling awkward about sharing her sexy times with Rebekah's brother to Rebekah herself and shying away from Bonnie's judgment, seeking the kind of understanding that she knew only Katherine could provide. Katherine had been surprised when she first heard Caroline's stories, the frat-boy move seeming strange coming from Klaus of all the guys, but those brief moments of closeness had made Caroline blissful the next day and she couldn't dampen her joy.

Whatever she thought of Klaus, the guy made Caroline _happy_. That made him suitable – just suitable, she wasn't going _too_ far – in her books.

"Well," Bonnie cleared her throat. "You have Damon now, at least." She said, weakly, to Caroline.

 _Yes_ , Caroline thought, _I have Damon now_.

Damon Salvatore. The only boy that could make Elena smile as if she were truly happy. And he was hers. Caroline imagined Elena would have reached out and ripped her eyes from her skull if she knew Caroline was still fucking the one boy that Elena wanted more than anything. Of course, at the beginning, Caroline hadn't seen what was so great about Damon Salvatore. Frankly, when Elena had told them she dumped Damon's brother, Stefan, because she lost interest in him and realised she had feelings for his brother, Caroline had just stared at her like she was insane. In what universe did someone want Damon over Stefan? Stefan Salvatore, who was every high school girl's dream guy. Elena just dropped him like a hot potato and jumped on the Damon bandwagon, never making it a secret how eager she was to replace Stefan with his own brother. But the injustice dealt to Stefan by Elena had not really registered to her at the time. All she had known was that Damon was someone Elena wanted and for once, _for once_ , she just wanted to beat Elena at something.

And she did win, sooner or later.

She had been a virgin at some party or another, late sophomore year. Damon had looked particularly miserable that night, nursing his red cup of cheap bear. She chose to lose the particular ball and chain that was her virginity to him that night. She had been somewhat drunk and it had hurt like hell and honestly, she still didn't understand what all the fuss was about. But it had been worth it, seeing Elena's shock, seething face when she stepped out of that bedroom with Damon, clothes askew, make-up smeared and skin flushed, thighs still sore.

And after Elena disappeared, she suddenly became more of a viable option for Damon, now that the girl that he had actually wanted was perpetually out of his reach. A part of her had balked at the idea of being his second choice, but the fact that she had him before Elena was enough to dampen any of her worries.

But that meant Damon wanted to have sex. _All the fucking time._ Like enough was enough already. After a year of Damon crawling on top of her, she should like it by now, shouldn't she? At least, that was what Katherine said. And Katherine always seemed to like it. And she, herself, had loved it with Klaus in those few, brief moments with him – _the guy's definitely good with his fingers_. But Damon seemed to like it a lot, so she just decided to push through it every time his sweaty hands made a beeline for her thighs. She supposed that was what mattered after all. Damon had made no secret of the fact he was willing to look around if she wasn't willing to give him what he wanted. Therefore, she had to make sacrifices with her self-respect to keep him.

And she did want to keep him. It was her sort of 'fuck you' to the girl inside the coffin. Even if that sounded downright twisted. She got the guy Elena wanted and it was a victory.

 _You have Damon now_. Caroline reminded herself, sharply. _Stop thinking about Klaus. It's over and done with and buried ten feet under._

It wasn't like those dirty-blonde curls and glinting cornflower-blue eyes and that scruffy stubble did anything – _no, stop it!_

But she couldn't help the way her eyes shifted to the side as Klaus and Hayley approached up the aisle. Hayley walked carefully, as if the next step could break every single bone in her body, blank, eerie white eyes covered by shades, her arm tucked into Klaus' elbow, holding onto him for dear life, although exuding no warmth for the boy next to her who may or may not have set a fire that ripped her sight cleanly away from her – they never quite worked out whether Hayley knew it had been them or not.

Klaus, much like his stepsister, remained impassive as they strode up to the aisle, heading for the coffin. Caroline knew he bore no great affection for the dead girl in the box and was still finding it confusing as to why he had decided to make an appearance at the funeral of a girl who had sent him off to the reform school for a crime he never committed in the first place. It were times like this that it _itched_ at her to know what Elena had had on Klaus to turn him into one of her dangling puppets that she loved so much. His face showed nothing – no bitterness, no hatred, no spite, no regret, no grief – he was just blank.

The two simply walked up to the coffin and bowed their heads over it for a moment, showing the minimum amount of respect for the girl they had despised in life, before turning away.

And then his face turned and his eyes speared straight through her and Caroline swore she stopped breathing. Guilt surged through her and she was sure it showed on her face because something flickered in Klaus' mask – _grief? regret? understanding?_ – his eyes softened almost imperceptibly and his jaw tensed. His eyes didn't stray away from her as to regard her friends with the same look – not even Rebekah was allowed his attention at that moment – and he nodded at her, more warmly than she had expected. The small, trembling smile on her lips had the effect of making his lips quirk up at the corners and his hand to twitch at his side, as if to reach out and take her hand – to offer her some sort of comfort despite his hatred for the girl in the coffin, something which filled her with such warmth that if she hadn't been at a funeral for one of her best friends, a blinding smile may have spread across her face.

 _Oh, fuck. I am so screwed_.

When Hayley finally tugged Klaus away from Caroline's gaze – something which Caroline could not be more displeased about –, unbeknownst to the electricity that had passed between Klaus and Caroline, she found it easier to breathe, her stomach tightening. She turned her eyes back to the coffin and swallowed hard.

"She would've liked this." Caroline murmured. "Popular in life, immortalised in death."

* * *

The four girls stumbled out of the church in a sophisticated fashion, in groups of two, Bonnie and Rebekah joined at the hip and Katherine and Caroline hand in hand. They made it to the footpath in front of the church when a shadow came across them and they turned around, a tall, blonde man standing in front of them, sharp eyes staring at them, distrustfully.

"Caroline. Katherine. Bonnie. Rebekah." He drawled.

Caroline frowned. "I'm sorry, do we know you?" She asked, confused.

"Not yet. I'm Detective Alaric Saltzman. As I understand it, the four of you were good friends of the victim?" Alaric asked, curiously, handing Katherine a small card that she read carefully.

Bonnie tensed, nodding. "Yes. We were." She said, grimly.

Rebekah gritted her teeth. "We already talked to the police when Elena went missing. Why do we have to talk to them again?" She asked, defiantly, her chin tipping up of its own accord.

Alaric raised an eyebrow. "The four of you may not have grasped this yet," He said, sarcastically. "But this is no longer a missing persons' investigation." His voice lowered. "It's a murder."

His last word managed to make the four stop in their tracks.

"And rest assured, I will find out what happened that summer." Alaric murmured, before turning on his feet and walking away.

At that moment, Hayley and Klaus walked into their visions and the four tensed as their eyes swept over the brunette girl who definitely had an axe to grind with them. Not to mention her companion would have his own score to settle, something which caused Caroline's heart to clench uncomfortably.

"Do you think he knows?" Bonnie asked, lowly.

"You mean about the-?" Katherine couldn't finish the sentence.

Rebekah shook his head, furiously. "How could he?" She asked, incredulously.

If their luck couldn't possibly get any worse, the phones chimed simultaneously, fear flitting across their faces as they heard the damning tones. Their eyes dropped and they switched on their phones.

"Oh, my God." Rebekah hissed.

Caroline's shoulders slumped and her eyes drifted shut, shaking her head.

"It's from…" Katherine trailed off.

"I got one too." Bonnie said, lowly.

With a dark voice, Caroline spoke out loud the words from the message.

 _You didn't think you could get away from me that easily, did you? I'm still here, bitches, and I know everything_

– _A._


	2. All Those Pretty Lights

**All Those Pretty Lights**

 _Okay, this is the second part of Don't Say A Word._ _I hope you guys enjoy it. And P.S. anything in this chapter that remotely resembles Pretty Little Liars or The Vampire Diaries, I do not own._

* * *

Kol was one of her favourite people in the world. Not that she didn't love her girls, but Kol occupied a special place in her heart since forever. In fact, she had been friends with him long before Elena had burst into her life and strong-armed her into meeting Bonnie, Rebekah and Katherine. He was the one with whom she shared her white-bread-with-the-crusts-cut-off sandwiches in grade school. He grumbled and sat through all of her tea parties, making imaginary small-talk with the stuffed animals around them. They sat, closeted together, at lunch, heads pressed together as they whispered secrets that only the two knew. Hell, she even taught him how to play Double Dutch and hopscotch. Honestly, he was her first kiss when she was shy and thirteen and just wanted to know what the fuss was all about. She forced him to come with her to the first Homecoming dance at the high school, and in turn, he twisted her arm and made her be his date at his father's wedding (even though majority of her had only agreed because _hello? Klaus in a suit?_ ).

Which was why, when she opened the door that morning and found him on the doorstep, joy swept over her.

"Kol!" She cried out, throwing her arms around him, immediately.

"'Lo, darling." He hummed in her ear, squeezing her back in a comfortable band around her ribs.

When she pulled away, she smacked him on the arm, ignoring his wince with a roll of her eyes. "Where the hell have you been?" She asked, grumpily.

Kol rolled her eyes. "While I understand that Elena Gilbert's death is an immense tragedy for this town, blah-blah-blah, did you really think I was going to show up at her funeral?" He asked, pointedly.

Caroline grimaced. She had kind of walked straight into that one. "Well, no…" She trailed off. "But it would have been the right thing to do!" She protested.

Kol tilted his head in a genuinely confused manner. "And I care about doing the right thing all of a sudden because…?" He asked, frowning. He paused. "Are you seriously going to leave me standing here on the doorstep?" He pouted.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Come on." She waved him inside.

"So, how was the Queen Bee's wake?" Kol asked, curiously, as they made their way to Caroline's room.

It wasn't as if Caroline's mum was home enough to actually complain that there was a boy in her room, unsupervised. But it was Kol. Having sex with him would be like having sex with her brother. (And she had actually had sex with _his_ brother.)

"It was… eventful." Caroline admitted. "Speaking of which, why didn't you tell me Klaus and Hayley were back in town?"

Kol raised an eyebrow. "Because, honestly, my father didn't say a word until it was actually time for them to come down. Bekah and I barely had a few days' notice ourselves before they were already here." He leaned in, his voice turning low and serious. "I know you have this major requited-but-unrequited love for him and everything, and I know something serious went down between the two of you – and I'm sure Elena Gilbert had something do with it – before Klaus was sent off to juvie. But I told you this before, he's bad for you, darling."

His hand was warm in hers when he squeezed, his dark eyes intent on hers.

Caroline swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said, breezily. "I'm not _in love_ with Klaus." She laughed, shakily.

Kol's shoulders slumped. "Oh, Caroline, sweet, it's all sickly and sweet on your face." He said, gently. Caroline grimaced. "Although, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about Klaus figuring it on your end. He's just as oblivious and pining away as you are." He rolled his eyes.

"What?" Caroline's eyes widened.

Kol raised an eyebrow. "You must have figured out by now that Klaus is just as madly in love with you as you are with him. It's kind of disgustingly adorable in a way. He gets this sopping look on his face when he looks at the picture of you and Rebekah, or you and me, on the mantle." He paused, his brow furrowing. "You never did tell me what happened with the two of you, after your romps in the coat closet." His nose scrunched up. "By the way, cliché much?"

Caroline shook her head. "And I never will."

 _The Hayley thing_ was off-limits. Even in her own thoughts.

Kol sighed, dramatically. "Very well, then, back to the town's great tragedy. What happened at the wake?"

Caroline fell back onto her pillow. "Other than your brother and Hayley showing up out of the blue? Nothing that would blow your mind. Oh, but Elena's death has officially been classified as a murder."

Kol snorted. "With a rap sheet like Elena's, half the school wanted to slice and dice her."

Caroline wondered, briefly, if she should tell him about the text message, but if he asked her what 'everything' was, she didn't know if she could keep her mouth shut. Not to Kol.

* * *

Caroline, Bonnie, Katherine and Rebekah sat at a table in the Grill, closeted from the other patrons, which weren't more than a few servers and an older couple, as they ducked their head and whispered furiously.

"Why was Hayley there?" Katherine asked, angrily.

Caroline shrugged, a bitter something curdling in her stomach. "I guess she's back." She muttered.

Rebekah scowled. "That cop acted like we were suspects or something."

Bonnie shifted, uncomfortably. "Do you think we looked guilty?"

Katherine's face scrunched up. "Why would we? We haven't done anything wrong."

"…except lie about 'The Hayley Thing'." Bonnie finished.

Katherine's fists clenched around the edge of the table. "We promised we'd never bring up 'The Hayley Thing' again. Remember? It never happened." She said, fiercely.

Caroline stared at her, with an eyebrow raised. "Have you found a way to forget?" She asked, curiously, and with the slightest judgment in her eyes. "I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night."

"Care, it was an accident." Katherine said, vehemently.

Bonnie stared down at the friendship bracelet wound around her wrist and played with it, nervously. Rebekah dumped the last of the booze from her silver flask into her diet coke, rolling her eyes when the man of the older couple gave her disapproving look at her action.

"It's medicinal." She said, sweetly. He continued to judge her with his stare. "Cramps." She said, sharply, making him finally look away, a hot flush running under his collar.

"I don't get it." Bonnie shook her head. "How does A know something about me that only Elena knew?"

They all shared a look.

"Elena knew all of our secrets, but..." Katherine pursed her lips. "We never knew any of hers."

"I knew some." Caroline said, suddenly, the other's eyes snapping to her.

When Caroline said nothing more, Katherine pushed. "Go on."

"Talk." Rebekah said, sharply.

"Care! You are not going to drop a bomb like that and clam up." Katherine snapped.

Caroline swallowed. "She'd so kill me if I told you."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "She's dead." She said, pointedly.

Like it mattered what saintly-but-bitchy Elena Gilbert thought.

Caroline licked her lips. "Elena was seeing someone that summer." She confessed.

Bonnie clucked her tongue. "I knew she was keeping something from me. From us." She amended.

Katherine frowned. "Why didn't she want us to know?"

Caroline shrugged. "He was an older boy. And he had a girlfriend."

"Who was it?" Bonnie asked.

"Can we at least have initials?" Rebekah urged.

Caroline shook her head. "She never told me his name."

"My money's on Damon." Katherine said, nonchalantly.

"Wow, Kat," Caroline gave her withering look. "Don't beat around the bush or anything." She said, sarcastically.

"What?" Katherine shrugged. "He's older. He's got a girlfriend. Case in point: you." She said, pointedly. "And we all know that she hated you because you stole him from her."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "First of all, Damon was never hers for me to steal." She said, sharply. "Second of all, she didn't _hate_ me." She protested.

"She hated you." All three intoned in one beat.

Caroline scowled. "You guys suck."

Katherine leaned in. "Damon's a sleazebag. Everyone knows he had some unrequited thing for Elena. Which is exactly why it's so easy for me to believe he was fucking Elena while fucking you. Ergo, he's a sleazebag. You know it, we all know it, Care. And we're only saying that because we love you. He's a sleazebag and you need to ditch his arse, like right the fuck now, before he drags you any deeper down with him." She sipped on her soda. "Elena was a bitch, but the two would have been perfect for each other because they were equally toxic. You're nice. You deserve better than him." She snorted. "Hell, even Klaus is better."

Caroline groaned. "Why is everyone mentioning Klaus to me today?"

"Because you two have some ridiculously unfinished business," Katherine hummed. "At least, that's what all that eye-sex told us today at the funeral."

Caroline's nose wrinkled. "I was not eye-sexing Klaus at one of my best friend's funeral."

Rebekah slammed her drink down on the table. "As much as I _adore_ talking about my best friend and my brother having eye-sex, can we please get back to the topic at hand?" She said, angrily.

"Look, whoever the guy was, it wasn't Damon." Caroline said, determinedly.

"The lady doth protests too much, methinks." Katherine said, dryly.

"Shut up, Kat." Caroline shot back.

"Both of you, please shut up." Rebekah growled. She turned to Caroline. "And anyway, that's only half a secret."

Caroline glowered. "It's more than you ever got from her." She retorted.

Katherine shook her head, disbelievingly. "How was it that Elena told us nothing and we told her everything?"

Bonnie softened. "She made us feel like we were a part of something special." She said, wistfully, grief twisting her features.

"We were." Rebekah admitted.

"I miss that." Katherine confessed, quietly.

"Me, too." Caroline swallowed hard.

"I miss Elena." Bonnie whispered.

The table felt silent. All of them had mixed feelings about Elena – Rebekah and Katherine leaning towards hatred and resentment, Caroline sitting on the fence and Bonnie just a tad too loyal to a dead girl – but none of them could deny that Elena Gilbert's one good deed in life was to bring them all together. They were sisters now.

A waitress came up and refilled Caroline's coffee, dropping a packet of sugar on the table.

"She's gonna need more than that." Katherine commented, dryly.

The waitress stared at her, strangely.

"She hates the taste, but loves the rush." Bonnie offered.

She dropped three more packets and Caroline dumped all the contents into her coffee. As Bonnie passed a spoon over to Rebekah, she noticed the friendship bracelet around Bonnie's wrist.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you still wear that." She said, grimacing at the tacky jewellery.

Bonnie flushed. "We swore we'd never take them off." She said, pointedly. "Elena still wears hers. Wore." She amended.

Katherine cleared her throat, her nose crinkling at the maudlin of the moment. "So for the entire year I was gone, Hayley was away?"

Katherine had spent the past year travelling the world with her parents and trying her hardest to forget memories of Elena and the other girls, the former only because no teenage girl experienced a girl – _cousin_ , she amended (of course, she was practically a pro at tuning out the fact that she was related to Elena I'm-too-perfect-to-be-a-bitch Gilbert) – you didn't necessarily like but spent all her time with going missing without getting a little messed up, and the latter because it genuinely hurt to leave the girls she thought of as sisters behind in Mystic Falls (Elena never quite made the cut for her despite the blood relation).

Caroline nodded. "She left Mystic Falls that night and never came back."

"If Hayley is A, then this is about revenge." Katherine said, coldly.

Rebekah snorted. "Sorry, but A is 'watching' us and that rules out Hayley."

Everyone stared at Rebekah, unable to believe she had just said that. Out loud.

Rebekah stared back, unashamedly. "Those sunglasses aren't a fashion statement. She's blind." She said, slowly.

Bonnie played with her bracelet and Caroline stared at her, guilt rising in her at the grief that should have been swaddling her, making it hard for her to breathe, but didn't. She should at least be a sobbing mess, but she just felt as if nothing had actually happened. Hell, she was more freaked out about that essay due for AP World History than the fact that her best friend had died. Maybe that made her a bad person. Someone who she considered a sister, her best friend had died and she just couldn't gather enough emotion to feel bad. Or maybe the finality of Elena's death simply meant that the girl just hadn't meant that much to her in the long run.

She cleared her throat. "When Elena didn't come home I knew something terrible must have happened to her, but there was a part of me that imagined someday she would just show up." She confessed.

Katherine cracked a smile. "I just assumed she was shedding her whole good-girl image and she ran off with some guy."

Bonnie pursed her lips. "That she was laying on a beach somewhere-"

"Getting a tan with that hot lifeguard who worked at the pool."

Katherine grinned. "What was his name?"

Rebekah snorted. "Who cares? ' _Save me_!'" She cried out, dramatically.

The four girls dissolved into laughter and it was like the past year had never happened.

Caroline sobered. "I can't believe she's gone." She whispered.

The four exchanged a similar look. Maybe it wasn't grief that pulled them all together. Maybe they all didn't need to feel the same way about Elena to be friends like they used to, God knows Rebekah and Katherine would object strongly to that. Maybe it was just the shock and disbelief of having someone so permanently torn away from them.

Suddenly, a rhythmic tapping sound echoed through the restaurant, growing closer and louder with every moment that passed. The girls finally turned in the direction of the sound.

Hayley, wearing dark sunglasses, stood ominously in the doorway of the restaurant.

The four girls held their breath as Hayley made her way over to the counter and took a seat. They exchanged looks and Caroline slid to her feet first, the other silently following her lead. None made a sound as they walked past Hayley and out of the restaurant.

With the end of the awkwardly confronting moment, the four walked off in opposite directions, there being nothing more they could say to one another.

* * *

The four were squeezed together on the couch.

Detective Saltzman loomed over them.

His attention was on Caroline. "You thought you heard her 'scream'?"

Caroline nodded. "I said that, yeah."

He turned to Katherine, Bonnie and Rebekah.

"And when you three woke up in the barn, Elena was gone, but so was Caroline?"

Caroline answered for them. "Yes, I woke up before them and I realised that Elena was gone-"

"So you went to look for her." Alaric finished.

"That's what happened." Caroline said, impassively, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Was this a slumber party?"

"Is this an interrogation?" Caroline asked, bristling.

Alaric was slightly taken aback by her sharp tone before he quickly recovered. "No. Just a routine follow-up. Why did you all fall asleep?"

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "I guess we were tired." She said, dryly.

Alaric's eyes snapped towards Rebekah. "Is that how it was, Rebekah?"

"Yes." She replied, sweetly.

"We've told you everything we know. Just like we did the night she went missing." Caroline said, coldly.

Alaric smiled. "Yeah, I know. It's almost exactly what you said last year. Almost like it was rehearsed."

There was a long pause as he stared them down.

"Like Caroline said, we've told you everything we know." Katherine said, simply.

* * *

"He knows we're lying." Rebekah said, uneasily.

Katherine snorted. "Lying's not a crime."

"It is when you're giving false statements to the police. It's called obstruction of justice-" Caroline started.

"Oh, please. We lied about drinking." Katherine interrupted. "The truth that matters is that we don't know anything about what happened to Elena that night." She said, firmly.

"We also know about someone who might have wanted to hurt her." Caroline said, quietly.

"We should have told the police the truth about Hayley's accident the night it happened." Bonnie whispered.

"I wanted to, remember?" Rebekah said, pointedly.

Katherine shook her head. "We had a chance to do more than tell the truth. We had a chance to stop Elena."

"But we didn't." Caroline said, finally.

They all exchanged a remorseful look.

"Telling the police now about what happened to Hayley isn't going to make her see again. It'll just ruin our lives." Caroline pointed out.

Out of the corner of her eye, Bonnie spotted Hayley, standing on her own, carrying her lunch tray.

Katherine groaned. "Oh, my God, she's back in school too?" She said, incredulously.

When some nameless boy, who wasn't paying a lot of attention, bumped into Hayley, and her face quivered, leaving her vulnerable and lost, Bonnie jumped to her feet and walked to her without a second thought.

"Hayley, it's Bonnie. Would you like to join us?"

She registered the surprise on Hayley's face. They had never been any sort of friends, even before the accident.

"Sure." Hayley said, lightly.

Bonnie led Hayley over to the other three, who simply stared at the odd duo, disbelieving that she was actually willing to sit with them.

"Here's a chair. You're between Rebekah and Caroline and Katherine is directly across from you." Bonnie told her, as they both sat down.

Hayley smiled. "So, this would be Elena's chair?"

Bonnie shook her head, even though Hayley couldn't exactly see the action. "No. We're not even sitting at that table."

"You know she came to see me in the hospital after the accident." Hayley said, surprising all of them.

" _Elena_ did?" Caroline asked, incredulously.

Elena had never made secret her distaste-borderline-hatred for the new girl that had made her intention to usurp Elena's place very clear. Imagining her visiting Hayley in the hospital after an accident that Elena had orchestrated herself, it rewrote history. Perhaps the saintly-but-bitchy Elena Gilbert lost faith her in self-righteousness and visiting Hayley was her form of penance.

Rebekah popped a tater-tot into her mouth, as the girls watched Hayley's pleasant-as-pie face with suspicion.

"So many people misunderstood her." Hayley sighed. "But I knew exactly who Elena was."

Caroline gritted her teeth. "When did you get back, Hayley? We heard you were in Philadelphia at a school for the visually impaired." Her jaw twitched with repressed irritation.

Hayley smiled. "You can say blind, Caroline. It's not a dirty word." The girls exchanged guilty looks. "So quiet. This used to be the fun table. What happened to you girls?" She said, mock-mournfully.

* * *

 _The girls were all in Elena's bedroom, listening to music and trying on outfits for the town's July 4_ _th_ _festivities. Bonnie looked on as Elena pulled on a skimpy, summer top. When she caught Bonnie's gaze in the mirror, she shot her a secret smile that made Bonnie blush right down her neck. Suddenly, Elena spun around, a glare fierce on her face._

" _I see you!" She snapped. She stormed over to the window and threw it open, looking outside at a tree. "Oh, my God. I can't believe it!" She cried out._

 _The girls ran over._

 _Bonnie looked out, worriedly. "Who was it, Ali? What did you see?" She asked, quickly._

 _Elena rounded on them. "He was in that tree, spying on us. I am so creeped out!"_

 _Caroline frowned, approaching them. "Who was it?"_

" _Your brother." Elena looked at Rebekah, scathingly._

" _Kol?" Rebekah's brow furrowed._

" _No, Klaus." Elena's voice was thick with disgust._

 _Caroline couldn't help but laugh. "Really? No way. Klaus wouldn't do something like that."_

 _Rebekah stepped forward. "Yeah, Elena. You're way out of line. My brother's no perv."_

 _Elena shuddered, ignoring Rebekah and Caroline's objections. "I'm sure he saw all of us naked." She grimaced directly at Bonnie, knowing that it would bother the other girl._

 _Sure enough, Bonnie cringed._

" _Look if there is_ _ **someone**_ _out there," Caroline stressed. "We should tell someone."_

 _A glint entered into Elena's eyes, one that set Caroline's teeth on edge. "We could. But I've got a better idea."_

 _Fireworks exploded in the distance as Elena led the girls across the lawn, sneaking towards a free-standing garage that stood on the Mikaelson property. As they neared the garage, Elena pulled a firecracker from her pocket._

 _Bonnie shifted, uneasily. "And we're sure he's not in there?" She asked, warily._

 _Elena rolled her eyes. "He's not, okay?" She said, dryly. "You've got the lighter, right, Caroline?"_

" _Wait a second." Katherine said, sharply, and Elena, annoyed, turned to her._

" _What, Kat?"_

" _I don't think we should do this." She said, coolly. "I mean, revenge on a possible peeping tom is one thing, but this heading into levels of seriously messed up."_

" _Fine. Go back. You're on your own." Elena crossed her arms over her chest._

 _Caroline sighed. "If we tell the police, they can actually find out who it is and take care of it."_

 _Elena laughed, tipping her head back to display the long line of her throat. "What's the fun in that?" She asked, sweetly. She looked at Rebekah. "Come on, even if it isn't Klaus," Her eyes drifted, briefly, over to Caroline, who looked away. "You can't tell me you don't want to get back at Mikael for bringing that wannabe Southern-belle prima donna into your lives."_

 _No one said a word._

 _Elena had this way of talking shit but still managing to make a lot of sense so that no one argued with her._

 _Elena rolled her eyes. "It's a stink bomb, for God's sakes. We're not nuking the place." She said, dryly. "Now, let's do it."_

 _She snuck closer to the garage, while the other girls exchanged cautious, reluctant looks, but then one by one, they followed their leader. When they reached the garage, Elena opened the top half of the Dutch door and peeked inside. Inside was what she presumed to be a makeshift storage room, filled with exercise equipment and unnecessary boxes._

" _Give me the lighter." Elena held out her hand._

 _Caroline dropped it into her palm, reluctantly, and Elena gleefully ignited the fuse, tossing it into the garage when it sparked. She took one last look inside, her eyes widening infinitesimally when she spotted something inside, which Caroline caught briefly, and then she snapped her attention back to the other girls._

" _Let's get out of here." She said, quickly._

 _She ran back across the yard, the others running alongside of her. Suddenly, a terrified high-pitched scream rang through the air and they stopped dead in their tracks, watching in horror as the garage burned behind them._

* * *

Caroline swallowed hard, staring at her reflecting in Hayley's dark glasses. Suddenly, her phone, along with Katherine's, Rebekah's and Bonnie's, sounded simultaneously.

Hayley, nonchalantly, picked up Caroline's phone, which vibrated loudly against the table. "Aren't you going to get that?" She asked, innocently, passing the phone to Caroline.

The girls all looked down at the text they had just received.

 _If only she could see how guilty you look._

– _A_


	3. Sublime was the Warning

**Sublime was the Warning**

 _Fair warning, the beginning of the chapter does feature some non-consensual sexual activity, so please scroll past if this is a trigger for you or you find it really uncomfortable reading something of that nature._

 _Again, I don't own any dialogue or plot that comes from Pretty Little Liars or the Vampire Diaries, nor do I own any of the characters._

 _P.S. There is a comment here that could easily be interpreted as fat-shaming. I just want you guys to know that in no way do I approve of fat-shaming, especially as someone who has struggled with her weight and body image, but unfortunately, it fit my portrayal of Elena in this chapter so I included it in. I do apologise if anyone is offended or it is a trigger for anyone._

* * *

Caroline brushed back wet hair, tucking her locks behind her ear, as she walked through the empty changing room, her feet leaving damp footprints behind her. Something rattled in the distance and she swung around, clutching her towel firmly around her, her skin prickling with dread.

After receiving ominous text messages that promised harm or at least the destruction of her life, she wasn't about to take any chances.

"Hello?" She called out, hesitantly. "Anyone here?"

Suddenly, she was pinned up against one of the lockers, Damon's smirking face looming over her, as her heartbeat skyrocketed past the tempo she was sure was safe for humans.

"Fuck!" Caroline breathed, her hands scrambling against the lockers, as she gulped down a scream.

"Any reason why you're so twitchy, Blondie? I mean, I know there's like a murderer going around town, but I doubt he'd go after somewhat-pretty almost-naked blondes in empty changing rooms." Damon smirked, as if his joke was the funniest thing he had ever heard, his hand trailing down her slick arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

Caroline shuddered, cringing away from his touch as something unpleasant settled in her stomach.

Sometimes, she didn't know why she allowed herself to remain in a relationship with him.

She cleared her throat. "How did you get in here? Wouldn't people have seen you?" She looked past his shoulders, anxiously, hoping some other girl would walk in, throw a fit at Damon being there and she would be spared the uncomfortable encounter she was sure to follow.

Damon shrugged. "No one was even looking." He said, smugly.

Caroline took a deep breath. "If someone sees you, we'll both be screwed." She said, pointedly.

Damon's lip curled. "I'll take my chances." His hand tightened around her wrist, almost to the point of pain. "Besides, we need some alone time."

Caroline licked her lips, her eyes shifting, as if looking for an escape route. "I should get dressed." She said, lamely.

Damon's eyes went hot. "That's exactly the opposite of what you should do." He growled, his hands skating across her ribcage, purposefully.

Caroline shied away from his touch. "This isn't a good time for sex, Damon." She protested, weakly. "My mom's expecting me. Her car's in the parking lot."

Damon pulled away, his brow furrowing. "What's wrong with you?" He asked, crossly. His hand curled around her hip and tightened, and Caroline winced. "Come on, Caroline, don't be so fucking frigid. You know I can always get it somewhere else if you don't put out." He said, lowly.

Caroline gritted her teeth, ignoring the way his last comment felt like a slap in the face. It was times like this that she truly regretted getting mixed up in the Damon-Elena miserable love affair in the first place. But, she had just wanted to get one up over the girl who always seemed to get everything. And now, she was dead and Caroline was still stuck with Damon, who she couldn't seem to shake no matter how much she tried.

"Nothing." She said, reassuringly, forcing herself to raise her hand and brush it over his cheek. "Look, there's just a lot to do and I've got a lot on my mind." She said, hesitantly. "I just don't think now's the time for _this_."

Damon's eyes darkened and she knew it had been a mistake to mention Elena and her untimely death. Damon may fucking _her_ , but she knew it was Elena he was thinking about and sating himself between her thighs did nothing to how Elena's death was slowly destroying him from the inside.

Frankly, Caroline always thought that if she hadn't interceded and Elena and Damon had actually ended up together, it would have ended just as badly as her and Damon currently were. If she had to choose a Salvatore for Elena, she would always pick Stefan, if only for his kind green eyes and lack of temper tantrums that left Caroline sore for at least a week, rubbing concealer over the bruises that Damon would leave.

"All right." Damon said, intently. Obviously, the Elena mention had him spiralling again. "Let me help you relax."

"Damon, I mean it, I can't do this right now." Caroline said, sharply.

Damon frowned, angrily. "What?" He snapped, warningly.

Caroline rubbed at her skin, which crawled. "Seriously, let me go, Damon. I've got stuff to do and I'm not just going to put out whenever you ask me to."

He crowded into her space, his hips jutting uncomfortable into hers, her back scraping up against the ridges in the locker door.

"Damon, get off me! Get off! Stop it!" Her voice rose rapidly as she saw he wasn't showing signs of giving into her.

"Who said I was asking?" His voice was hot and foreboding in her ear and her struggles renewed.

Her fists slammed against his chest, fiercely and repeatedly, as she felt his hand slide beneath her towel and up her thigh. His other hand disappeared between them and she could feel him try and unknot her towel, purposefully groping her breast, harshly, as he did so. His nails scraped against her thigh and she bit her lip, hoping he wouldn't dig just that little bit more such that he would cut into the skin. She closed her eyes, tipping her head back against the wall, hoping that Damon would just take what he wanted from her quickly and she wouldn't be too sore afterwards.

Suddenly, she felt his weight being dragged off her and she hit her head against the locker in shock, her eyes snapping open. She watched as Klaus appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Damon by the scruff of his neck and throwing him up against the opposite wall of lockers with an astounding crash. Hell, Caroline was hoping for Damon to have some brain damage at least with that hit. But she supposed it wouldn't look as good for her if she just stood back and let Klaus beat on him as if he were a piece of meat.

"Klaus!" Caroline called out, warningly. "That's enough! Okay? Please, stop." She said, urgently.

Damon struggled against Klaus' grip, kicking his leg out behind him to push Klaus back, but all he did was dodge it seamlessly. Caroline looked around, appreciatively. It sounded cold to her, but obviously his time in reform school had taught him a few more skills.

"Are you screwing this reject? Is he the reason you're acting like this?" Damon spat out, miserably.

Caroline rolled her eyes, while a part of her nodded in agreement, emphatically. "Damon, get over yourself, okay." She scoffed. "Just because I don't want to have sex with you in a fucking change room doesn't mean I'm cheating on you, you dick." She said, witheringly.

A flush rose in her cheeks as her eyes sidelined Klaus, not wanting to bring her relationship problems (especially one concerning sex and consent and lack thereof) into the public forum, especially when the public forum consisted of a boy that had definitely been the best she ever had (while she was already dating someone else that said boy was currently pounding into the lockers).

 _Awkward_. The voice sung in her head.

"Get _over_ myself?" Damon asked, incredulously. "You two-faced bitch-" He groaned as Klaus slammed his head into the locker door, sharply, blood spilling from a grim slice across her forehead.

She was surprised Klaus hadn't said anything withering to either of them. From what she remembered, he hardly restrained himself when it came to offering his opinion about Damon Salvatore.

She shook her head. "It's done."

Something in her lightened.

"We're over." She said, firmly.

And with those two simple words, she was free.

As soon as she spoke, Klaus dropped Damon like a sack of potatoes, as if he had been waiting for that precise sentiment, and moved over to the side, watching with unfathomable eyes as Damon stumbled to his feet, drawing his dignity around him like a cloak that both she and Klaus could see straight through (she didn't need to read his mind to know that he was sneering at Damon's show of pride just as she was), and glared at the two of them, before storming out of the change room.

That left her and Klaus alone, with a whole lot of tension.

"Two years later, and you finally did something intelligent, Caroline." Klaus murmured, lowly, before slinking away himself.

* * *

 _Caroline watched with sober eyes, guilt racking her frame, as Elena fell short of grabbing Klaus by the shirt and shaking him in order to get her point across. Klaus wordlessly seethed and Caroline knew that one day, be it soon or years from now, Elena (and maybe even her, if their relationship-not-relationship wasn't enough to make him forget her part in this and she doubted it would) would pay dearly for her daring._

" _I'll make sure everybody knows!" Elena swore, before turning on her feet._

 _Her eyes darkened with anger as she spotted Caroline watching her every move, standing away from the rest of the group, closer to her and Klaus such that she could hear the end of the conversation between them. She stormed over to her, brown hair swinging behind her dramatically, as she did so._

" _Didn't I tell you to stay over there, and let me take care of this?" Elena snapped. "What did you hear?" She asked, suspiciously._

 _Caroline purposefully kept her face blank. "Nothing."_

 _Bonnie, Katherine and Rebekah cautiously approached the two girls, the latter shooting her brother a wary, worried look, to which he simply glowered at, settling back against the fence with his arms crossed over his chest. His anger was boundless and justified and not even his sister (beloved, as she may be) would get a reprieve._

" _What's going on? What happened to Jenna?" Bonnie asked, worriedly._

 _Elena's face hardened. "It's done. We were never here. Let's go."_

 _Rebekah stepped forwards, joining Caroline in her disapproving posture. "But…" She trailed off._

" _But what?" Elena asked, sharply._

" _What if we said it was an accident?" Rebekah wondered out loud._

 _Elena shook her head, furiously. "No, we're not telling anybody anything. Damn it, Rebekah. Don't make me sorry I ever included you in the first place." Her voice lowered. "I have gone out of my way to bring your miserable, insecure butt into this group. I suggest you keep your mouth shut, unless you want to go back to spending your weekends alone, Dance Dance Revolution and a jumbo bag of Doritos, on your way to becoming a plus-sized model for Carmakoma." She warned, darkly._

 _Katherine nudged herself in front of Rebekah, as if to protect her physically from Elena's words. "That's enough, cousin," Her lips were a thin, angry line. "Leave her alone."_

 _Elena knew that if Katherine found she cared enough to take a stand, she wouldn't last very long. Her doe eyes softened, dramatically, and her lips plumped into a pout, with the confidence of knowing that she could turn the world with that face if she wanted to._

" _I'm sorry, Rebekah." Elena said, kindly. "I didn't mean that. I'm just freaked out, guys. This is bad. Really bad." She ran a hand through her hair, twisting the ends nervously between her fingers. "I never would've done it if I thought someone was in there. I just... I don't know what's gonna happen... to us. Can we just go?" She looked at the other four, expectantly. "Come on."_

 _Her voice was firm and they all danced to her tune._

* * *

Caroline's hands tapped against the linoleum table, awkwardly, as she heard Klaus open his textbook to the concerning page next to her.

"So…" She trailed off, not exactly sure what to say to someone whose life you may or may not have ruined.

"I don't believe I have ever seen you at a loss for words." Klaus drawled, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"Do you _still_ talk like an eighty-year-old out of his time?" Caroline shot back.

Klaus cracked a smile and hid it from her, before he straightened. "Just because you are content to wreak havoc on the English language, doesn't mean that the rest of us aren't willing to treat it with respect, Caroline."

"Oh, just… go away, would you?" Caroline said, lamely, turning her head aside to stare at the blackboard with half-hearted attention.

The awkwardness rose in the air again.

"Thank you." She said, quickly. "For earlier. In the change room. If you hadn't… well, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come in when you did. So, thank you." She said, soberly, avoiding looking him in the eye.

Klaus pursed his lips. "You're welcome." He said, lowly, staring straight ahead.

Caroline pulled her textbook closer to her, sliding it open to the page the teacher was indicating, slamming it closed with an audible thump when she caught sight of the photo strips neatly parting the pages.

Bonnie and Nora (the new girl that was currently living in Elena's old house).

 _Holy crap._

* * *

Katherine threw her head back and laughed. "I can't believe you totalled Matt's car. That's _gold_!" She crowed.

Rebekah flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't _total_ it." She said, earnestly. "Just wrecked it a bit. He was being a prat." She sniffed, haughtily, walking past them and sitting primly on the edge of the old wooden bench that would soon act as a memorial to Elena.

Caroline frowned. "What's the punishment?"

Rebekah sighed. "Some volunteer work at the bloody dentist. Oh, and I'm grounded, but I hardly think that will be enforced, what with my father so preoccupied with poor, disabled Hayley." She muttered under her breath. "Kol's obviously loving this. He thinks it's time I showed some rebellion." She scoffed.

Caroline sank down beside Rebekah. "You're lucky you weren't arrested, Beks." She said, pointedly.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Like those morons down at the precinct would arrest a Mikaelson."

"One already under suspicion of murder, I think so." Caroline said, lowly.

"Caroline-" Katherine hissed, looking warily around them for any sign of eavesdroppers.

Caroline shook her head, earnestly. "We all need to be careful. We slip up just once and they'll throw us behind bars. Saltzman already thinks we did it. He's just waiting for us to screw up, so he can get enough on us."

Bonnie frowned. "If your mother's the Sheriff, can't she help us?"

Caroline snorted. "I'd have better luck bringing Elena back to life so she could tell everyone _we_ didn't kill her. My mum would probably be the first to put the handcuffs on me if she thought I did it." She said, bitterly.

Katherine scowled, shifting on her feet, tensely. "Look, did we come out here to this morbid stone in the middle of a public park to talk about possible murder charges against us. Because I sure didn't. I got another text from A, and I'm pretty sure you three did too."

Caroline grimaced.

The text had come late last night, when she had just about to fall into the depths of sleep. Her phone rang, shrilly, and she had almost screamed out loud, but snatched it off her bedside table all the same. And when she read the text on the screen, all thoughts of sleep left her mind.

 _Heads up, BFFs. It's open season on liars and I'm hunting…_

– _A_

"You know what, I'm sick of sitting here, waiting for this bitch to threaten me." Caroline said, suddenly, her eyes lighting up. She pulled out her laptop from her bag and placed it precariously on her knees, opening the screen.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked, confused, trying to peer over her shoulder.

"I'm going to block all messages from anyone I don't know." Caroline looked at the other three. "You should do the same. The bitch only wins when we buy into all of her shit." She said, fiercely.

With one click, a bright grin spread across her face and she fluttered her eyelashes at the other girls, making them smile to themselves.

"Who's next?" She asked, curiously.

Bonnie shuffled, awkwardly, before taking the laptop from Caroline, switching places with her.

Caroline tossed her head back, letting her loose blonde waves fly out behind her, when she caught sight of the newest English teacher and Klaus and Rebekah's brother to boot, riding on his bike past them, shirt and gym shorts clinging to his awe-inspiring physique.

"Looking good, Mr Mikaelson!" She cat-called, to which he flicked a hand in her direction, acknowledging that he had heard her.

There had to be some invisible line she was crossing, gawking at her best friend's and ex-hookup's brother. But what struck her as odd was Katherine's reaction to her wolf-whistling. Her eyes were thoroughly invested as they followed Elijah's movement from one edge of their sight to the other, her gaze not leaving him for a second. And she was sure she was imagining things, but whenever Elijah's struggle failed him and he looked over at the four girls, his eyes were inevitably drawn to Katherine's spot on the bench.

"So," Katherine cleared her throat, avoiding Caroline's curious gaze. "We should go and celebrate."

Caroline frowned. "Celebrate what?" She asked, confused.

"You dropping the skeevy ball-and-chain that is Damon Salvatore, duh!" Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Oh, my God, Katherine." Caroline scoffed.

"Come on, I've been waiting for this day for like two years, Care. You have to give me something." Katherine scooted to the edge of the bench, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Did you hit him? Did he cry? Please tell me he cried."

Caroline couldn't help the laugh that left her. "No, he didn't cry." She bit her lip. "But blood may have been involved." She admitted, flushing.

 _Although not my doing._

Katherine threw her hands up in the air. "That's my girl!" She crowed.

"Alright," Rebekah declared, pressing one final button on Caroline's computer. "We are finally A-proofed. This bitch is done."

Bonnie sighed, relaxing against the back of the bench. "This feels right."

"That's because it is right." Caroline chuckled.

"Out of mind, out of sight." Katherine agreed.

A sheet of paper blew across the grass towards them before it finally settled at Rebekah's feet. She picked it, curiously, and her face twisted as she showed it to the others, who looked around, sceptically and just a bit frightened, for any sign from where it may have come from.

Rebekah, surprisingly (for someone who had barely expressed any genuine emotion at her so-called best friend's passing), screwed up the paper into a ball and tossed it over her head, uncaring as to where it fell. The four scooped up their belongings and swiftly walked away from the bench.

They left Elena's missing person's poster with the words _Ding Dong, the Bitch is Dead_ written macabrely across in crimson lettering, to rot somewhere in the dirt.

* * *

"Homecoming?" Caroline said, dubiously.

"Yes."

"You want to take me to _Homecoming_?" Caroline clarified.

"Yes."

"You?"

"Yes." Klaus said, impatiently. "I'm sorry, love, but what part of this sentence are you not comprehending?"

"You don't even like _people_!" Caroline shot back. "Why would you want to take me to a dance?"

"Because I like you," Klaus shrugged. "I can stomach everyone else for a night if I have to. And as you no longer have a date, once you kicked Damon Salvatore to the curb like the dog he is, I thought I may volunteer my services in his position." He looked at her through his eyelashes, puppy-dog eyes full-force.

"Okay, first of all, buddy, there'll be no _service_ -volunteering if I agree to this." Caroline said, firmly.

Klaus' smirk was mischievous and she hated him all the more for it.

"Well, I didn't necessarily mean it in that sense, but I am happy to know that it immediately crossed your mind."

There was heat in his eyes, hardly hidden, and Caroline found herself turning crimson, ducking her head so he wouldn't see the matching want in her own blue-green eyes.

Caroline took a deep breath. She could be mature about this. "Fine. I'll go with you to Homecoming." She said, lowly.

The satisfied grin on Klaus' face both softened and irked her.

"Very well. I presume you'll text me all the necessary details?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah," Caroline waved off. "Just… don't read too much into this, got it?"

With a huff and a giddy heart, she flounced away, leaving Klaus standing alone in the empty corridor, his hands shoved in his pockets, his face not betraying anything but triumph.

* * *

"Klaus?" Katherine raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You're going with _Klaus_?"

"Yes." Caroline said, firmly.

"Klaus? Rebekah's brother, who you've been denying having a thing for, for two years, we're-still-not-sure-he's-not-a-murderer _Klaus_?"

"Okay, look," Rebekah interjected. "My brother did not _kill_ Elena. Yes, he may have thought about it, or even talked about it – as we _all_ have –" She looked at all three, sternly. "But he wasn't even in Mystic Falls the night Elena went missing. How in hell would he have killed her?"

Katherine sighed. "I know he's your brother, Beks, but he's one of the only few people in this town that would have a motive."

"That's bullshit!" Rebekah crowed. "Half the town dreamt about killing Elena. She was just the kind of person that pissed people off. Why do you naturally assume that it's Niklaus behind these messages? Why not Hayley?"

Caroline shrugged. "I highly doubt a blind girl broke into my house and wrote that stupid message in perfect handwriting in Elena's favourite shade of lipstick, Rebekah." She said, dryly.

"Caroline, you're supposed to be on my side!" Rebekah exclaimed.

"Look," Caroline began, reassuringly. "I don't think Klaus did it either. But that doesn't mean we can immediately rule him out as a suspect. If it is Hayley, it is likely that Klaus is the one doing all the legwork for her, since she can't. Especially since _you_ were the one that said your father designated Klaus to be her maid."

"I'd know if it were my brother, Caroline."

"Enough! Can we please stop fighting?" Bonnie asked, desperately, and the two blondes exchanged guilty looks. "Let's stop talking about our very persistent stalker and move onto something more interesting. Like how Rebekah's going to be our next Homecoming Queen." She fluttered her eyelashes, mockingly, at the aforementioned girl, who shoved her, playfully.

"Don't remind me!" Rebekah groaned. "You all _promise_ to vote for me?" Her eyes narrowed at them.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Would you please stop?" She said, dryly. "You've got in the bag."

Rebekah lit up. "Does that mean you promise to rig the election for me?" She asked, teasingly, and just slightly serious.

Caroline snorted. "Keep dreaming. I'm the head of the committee and pretty much the only one who knows what they're doing without needing any handholding. You know how you guys were worried about me going with Klaus? I doubt we'll be doing much together, seeing as I'll be spending most of the night restocking the ice and refilling the hummus bowl."

"Well, don't worry, I'm sure Klaus will be in some dark corner of the auditorium, watching every move you make." Katherine said, snidely.

"Oh, my God, Katherine, will you please lay off the whole Klaus thing?" Caroline snapped.

Katherine fell silent, her mouth twisting in continued disapproval. She was sure, by the end of Homecoming and even after, she would get enough slack from her for 'sleeping with the enemy' (not that there'd be any sleeping involved).

"Fine," Katherine said, shortly. She turned to Bonnie. "Who are you going with, Bon?"

Bonnie tucked a curl of her hair behind her ear, licking her lips, hesitantly, as if she were struggling with the subject, when suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, Rebekah interjected (and Caroline caught the knowing look that Rebekah shot towards Bonnie before she moved, wondering what the hell that was all about), haphazardly reaching out in front of her and grabbing the bag of take-away that sat on the table. She reached into the bag and pulled out a fortune cookie, breaking open the shell and pulling out the piece of paper that was trapped within.

Katherine frowned at Rebekah's wary expression. "What is it? Bad fortune?" She joked.

Caroline smirked. "Yeah, stop being such a drama queen and all the pieces of your life will fall into place." She said, dramatically.

Rebekah bit her lip.

" _Lions and tigers and bitches, oh my! There's no place like homecoming_. _See you there. A._ "

* * *

"Hey, _rock_ band, do you mind picking up the tempo? This is Homecoming, not the Veterans Day Parade."

Caroline rolled her eyes, so focused on the blood rushing to her ears that she failed to register Klaus come up behind her.

"And how am I doing?" He asked, carefully, tugging on the lapels of his suit.

Caroline turned around and found herself floundering. Bad boy or not, possible psychotic stalker with a tendency for sick digital games or not, Klaus Mikaelson looked damn good in a tux.

"Amazing," She said, finally, reluctantly. "So beyond perfect that I can't even look at you." A slow smile spread across her face as she brandished a plastic cup of bright red fruit punch. "I'd move away quickly, if I were you. Unless you want to end up _really_ ugly."

Klaus looked aghast.

"Sweetheart, what could I possibly have done that would warrant your desire to destroy the suit that _you_ made me buy specifically, such that it would complement your outfit?" He held a hand to his hurt, mock-hurt.

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Calling me sweetheart, for one." She said, dryly.

* * *

"Most people would find this creepy, you know?" Caroline said, casually, as they stepped into the empty chemistry lab.

"Find what creepy?" Klaus frowned.

"You dragging me to this empty room upstairs, while everyone else is in the auditorium." Caroline said, teasingly.

Klaus chuckled. "If only they knew how fond we were of this exact type of setting." He waggled his eyebrows and she couldn't help but giggle.

She didn't know what it was about him. The moment she was with him, it was as if the whole world faded away. She forgot about Elena, about Damon, about Hayley, about the possibility of her being indicted for her best friend's murder; she even forgot about the possibility that the boy in front of her may be the cause of everything currently going wrong in her life.

"So, why did you bring me here?" Caroline asked, curiously, letting her legs swing absentmindedly.

"I needed to talk to you and I felt it was better if your friends weren't around."

Caroline felt goosebumps rise on her arms. "Why?" She asked, carefully.

"There's something I need to tell you, Caroline. And if they were here, then you'd never believe me." Klaus said, fiercely, his eyes glinting with something strange that made her heart clench uncomfortably.

She stepped forward, out of some unexplainable need that wanted her to soothe whatever anger, whatever desperation that was making him say the words he had said, feel the way he was feeling.

She touched the line of his jaw, gently, feeling the muscle tighten under the brush of her fingertips.

"What's wrong, Klaus?" She asked, softly.

His hand came up to cover hers, threading their fingers together, warm and firm.

"Why is it so easy for us to fall back together like this?" Klaus murmured, almost as if he were talking to himself out loud. He shook his head, freeing himself from those thoughts. His hands held Caroline's between them. "Please, I need you to listen to me, Caroline."

Caroline stared down at their joined hands. "Klaus, you're scaring me." She said, alarmed.

"I need you to promise not to come to any conclusions before you hear exactly what happened last summer." He said, urgently.

"Last summer? What-what does last summer have anything to do with anything?" Caroline stammered, confused.

Her phone buzzed. Her hand dug into her purse, her phone slipping into her hand, as she pulled it out. She looked down to find Katherine calling her.

"Don't answer that." Klaus said, sharply, and Caroline looked at him in surprise, her hesitance quickly turning into fear.

"Why?" She asked, suspiciously.

"Because if you talk to one of them, you'll jump to conclusions." Klaus said, impatiently, approaching her slowly.

Caroline found herself backing away, her hand pressing against the corner of the lab table as she dodged it.

"Caroline," Klaus said, cautiously. "You don't need to be afraid."

"Really?" Caroline laughed. It was a high-pitched, hysterical, _frightened_ sound that echoed in the dark room. "And why is that? Because you brought me to an empty room away from everyone else and started saying all kinds of creepy things and you don't want to me to answer my phone and somehow, I'm _not_ supposed to be afraid?"

Klaus paused, a brief look of hesitation working its way onto his face. "I know. This looks bad. But please, just-"

Caroline's phone buzzed. She looked down.

 _It was Klaus. Get the hell away from him._

"I have to go." Caroline said, hurriedly.

She stumbled away.

"Caroline, please just let me explain." Klaus' hands were outstretched in surrender as he approached.

She spun on her feet and made for the door, but Klaus caught her arm before she could make it past the next row of tables, pulling her back. Her eyes travelled from the stone grip his fingers had on her wrist, up the length of his arm, before they settled on his fierce cornflower blue eyes.

"Oh, my God." Caroline breathed. She looked up at him, her face etched with horror. "Oh, my God. Klaus, _what did you do_?" She whispered.

"Nothing. _Nothing_. Caroline, please-"

His other hand came to clasp on her other wrist.

She pushed at his arms, trying to break his prison, her feet skidding against the floor.

"Caroline, please don't do anything stupid. You promised to listen to me. Please, just listen to me."

She so badly wanted to believe him, but all she could focus on was the sick churning in her stomach and her throat tightening.

She struggled once more, and broke his hold with a shove to his chest. She lurched backwards and her heel slipped and suddenly, she was falling and screaming, until her head hit something hard and sharp and blood was spilling and all she was left with was oblivion and Klaus' panic-stricken eyes.


	4. Ozymandias

**Ozymandias**

 _So, honestly, this is kind of a filler chapter, but has the reaction to everything that happened with Klaus in the last chapter, and is kind of focused on the relationship between Elena and all the girls. Oh, and there is dialogue from Pretty Little Liars in this chapter, so remember, I don't own anything to do with either Pretty Little Liars or The Vampire Diaries._

 _P.S. There is some very frank, and kind of graphic, descriptions of rape in the beginning of this chapter, so if this offends you or if it's something you don't feel comfortable reading, I urge you to scroll past._

* * *

Caroline stared at herself in the mirror. She touched the back of her skull, tentatively, and winced. And frankly, her face didn't look much better, either – all drawn out and pasty and in serious need of a deep pore cleanse, or at the very least, a facial.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were going to Homecoming with Klaus Mikaelson?"

Her mother's sharp voice came from the doorway to her bedroom and Caroline sighed, steeling herself to deal with her mother's on-again-off-again maternal concern, and turned around.

She raised an eyebrow. "Because I didn't think I needed to?" She offered.

Liz's face tightened. "What about Damon?"

"What about him?" Caroline asked, tersely.

"Why would you go to Homecoming with Klaus instead of your boyfriend?" Liz asked, as if her question had been obvious.

"Damon's not my boyfriend anymore." Caroline said, simply, brushing out her shoulder-length blonde hair. "We broke up last week."

"Because of Klaus?" Liz asked, pointedly.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "No, because I realised I outgrew this stupid competition between Elena and me like a year ago."

Liz shook her head, her face etched in disapproval. "So, you only dated Damon to get back at Elena. That's cruel, Caroline. I expected better from you."

She wondered if her mother would still shamelessly go to bat for Damon if she knew that the first time that she and Damon had sex, he had pinned her down, despite her protests, and sank his teeth into her neck and didn't let up when she had screamed, and he had gone so roughly and carelessly that she bled (hell of a lot more than she had when she lost her virginity, which goes to show that Klaus was definitely hands-on, the best lover) and cried out for him to stop, but he just kept going and going, as if he couldn't hear her, or maybe because he just didn't want to, like her pain was fucking orgasmic for him.

But Damon seemed to like it a lot, so she just decided to push through it, and welcomed him between her legs again and again, whenever he wanted (until, of course, the last time, when she said 'no' and it took Klaus beating his skull into a locker for him to get off her). She supposed that was what mattered after all. Damon had made no secret of the fact he was willing to look around if she wasn't willing to give him what he wanted.

And she did want to keep him. It was her sort of 'fuck you' to the girl inside the coffin. She got the guy Elena wanted.

"Okay, you know how creepy it is that my mother likes my ex-boyfriend more than I do." Caroline snapped, a hysterical laugh thickening in her throat.

 _Hell, she likes him more than she likes me_.

Liz sighed, long-sufferingly. "I don't like him _more_ than you do. I'm just concerned about the decisions you've been making recently."

 _Like ditching my abusive boyfriend. Yep, that's definitely concern-worthy._

Caroline gritted her teeth. "Look, Klaus did not _hurt_ me, okay. I overreacted, I panicked, and I slipped and fell. That's all there was to it."

Liz's face was sharp and knowing. "You don't have to cover for him, sweetie." She said, soothingly, her hand warm when she placed it reassuringly on Caroline's arm.

Caroline almost started giggling at the irony of it all.

Liz bit her lip as if she were afraid to ask her next question. "Honey, did he try to pressure you into something you weren't ready for?"

Caroline snorted. "You mean my non-existent virginity?" She asked, scathingly, making Liz flush and look away, uncomfortably.

"Fine, then what happened?" Liz asked, sharply. "Klaus Mikaelson didn't get put in a boys' home because he crashed into a mailbox."

Caroline swallowed hard. "I'm going to bed."

With that, she ushered her mother out of her bedroom and promptly shut the door in her face.

* * *

"This is a stupid idea." Katherine huffed. "This whole memorial idea is so fucking _stupid_."

Caroline sighed. "Look, we need to finish the program… before your cousin gets here." She looked at Katherine, pointedly, who grimaced and looked away.

Bonnie twirled the spoon in her iced tea. "When is that exactly?"

"Tonight." Caroline replied. "He wants to see us in the morning."

Rebekah's lips twitched. "You know what's funny? That you're more in touch with Elena's family than Katherine." She said, a hint of venom in her eyes, as they flickered in Katherine's direction, who simply scowled and jabbed her with an unfriendly gesture with her fingers.

"Do you know what? I barely remember Silas." Bonnie mused.

Caroline shrugged. "We didn't know him. He was just Elena's big brother down the hall."

"Behind the closed door." Rebekah added.

"With his hardcore-punk music vibrating the floor boards." Bonnie said, teasingly.

The girls laughed together in a moment of a solidarity.

"So, the memorial goes up Friday morning." Caroline remarked, after the accord had faded away.

"Do we think Silas will like it?" Rebekah asked, curiously, peering at the design folded in Caroline's hands.

Katherine scoffed. "Of course he'll like it." She commented, confidently.

Caroline bit her lip. "You know, years from now, people are gonna see this memorial..." She paused. "...and that's all they'll ever know about Elena. She'll just be that teenager that went missing and ended up a corpse, the girl that they dedicated the bench to. And one day, we'll be dead too, but everyone will still remember _Elena_."

A part of her was ashamed to say that her voice ended with an edge of bitterness. The only ones that would mourn her death were the girls in this room, along with her mother and father (and a certain blue-eyed runaway, but she would never be sure of that). The memory of her would eventually fade away alongside the dust of the corpse she left behind. And that fate would come to the other three as well.

They were fleeting, but Elena would be eternal.

" _That's immortality, my darlings_." Rebekah murmured.

* * *

"You guys have done a great job. Really." Silas hummed. "Mum, Dad, Jeremy and I are really grateful." He shrugged, nonchalantly, a stiff gesture that had Caroline's lips twitching when faced with the new straight-laced Silas Petrova (too good for his father's name), ex-stoner. "I might've done one or two things differently. We can adjust that along the way. Here's a copy of the program for the dedication."

Caroline frowned, her previous amusement vanishing with the swift sidelining of her effort. "Oh, I emailed you the program that we worked up." She said, carefully.

Silas nodded. "Right. I saw the draft. This just fine-tunes it. Let's see. Uh... Oh." Something in his face changed, almost to the point of pain. "Is this the picture for the program?" He asked, looking up at the girls.

"Yes." Caroline swallowed hard, her eyes fixating on the picture of Elena beaming at the camera, seemingly in her element. "It's everybody's favourite."

Silas' eyes were wistful and haunted with the sort of pain that only losing a person that would understand you from start to finish could bring into someone's eyes. It made it hard for them to acknowledge the fact that he was only two or three years their senior, at the very least.

Elena's death had made him older.

It had made them all older.

"It's the one I would have picked." He commented. "I thought my parents would be able to come down, but, you know, at the last minute, my mum…" He trailed off and chuckled, suddenly. "It's crazy talking about this, isn't it? When I think about her, I think about you. The five of you in her bedroom, laughing, keeping secrets. Long time ago." He dragged his teeth over his lower lip, thoughtfully. "I want each of you to speak." He said, firmly, looking at the four girls. "I'd rather hear from you than Miss Lockwood from the PTA."

Caroline exchanged an awkward look with the other girls, simultaneously flattered by his determination as well as a little thrown by his shameless ousting of what she had planned.

"The PTA was a lot of help." She said, carefully.

"What about the rain?" Silas asked, suddenly.

Caroline frowned in confusion. "The rain?"

Silas nodded. "Forty percent chance before the weekend."

Caroline nodded with understanding. "They said that we can use the school's multipurpose room..." She paused. "...if we have to move the ceremony inside."

"Great." Silas replied, quietly. "People think this dedication is about closure. There won't be closure until they find Elena's killer." His face hardened. "The cops in this town have been jerking my family around for more than a year. No more of that. I'm going to make sure this ends right, and this memorial is gonna help me." His fingers tightened on the papers in his hands. "Oh, and I'm adding one speaker to the program. Hayley Marshall?"

It was as if the air drained from the room.

"You want _Hayley_ to speak… at the dedication? At _Elena's_ dedication?" Caroline said, incredulously.

Silas frowned. "Yeah. Why? She asked me if she could."

Rebekah's hands slipped off the counter. " _Hayley_ asked to speak?"

Silas' face was confused when he looked between the wide eyes of the four girls. "Is there a problem?"

"No, Silas," Katherine said, surprisingly soothingly for her, considering the tempestuous relationship between her and members of her family. "We just didn't realise that Elena and Hayley were that close."

Silas shrugged. "I didn't know either. But Hayley called and said my sister was a lot of help to her after her accident."

 _I'll bet_. Caroline thought, bitterly.

Soon after, Silas left, with the intention of passing by the police station and speaking to Detective Saltzman about the progress of Elena's case, leaving the girls shell-shocked and dreading the words that would come out Hayley's mouth.

"Why does Hayley want to speak at Elena's memorial?" Bonnie asked, worriedly.

"And why does Silas want her there?" Katherine pointed out. "Even the fucking retirement home knew that Elena and Hayley didn't get along. So, what's he planning?"

"We can't let Hayley speak." Rebekah said, determinedly.

"Oh?" Caroline raised an eyebrow. "And how do we stop her without looking like insensitive bitches?" Her hands fiddled with the program for the memorial. "And, in case you didn't notice, we just got patted on the head and sent off to play."

Rebekah pointed at her. "You need to stay on top of him, find out what's going on."

Caroline scowled. "Why _me_?"

Rebekah shrugged. "Because you're the event planner. He'll come back and talk to you about the memorial at some point, right? Hayley could get up there and tell the whole town about how _Elena_ was the one to set her garage on fire and blinded her. While that would mean that the whole world wouldn't think of my brother as a vicious teenage sociopath, I don't quite like the idea of going to jail for aiding and abetting arson."

"Rebekah's got a point." Bonnie said, quietly, but there was a certain fierceness to her voice. "With Klaus gone, she's the only one who knows what happened the night of the fire. And to destroy Elena's reputation at her own memorial, I'm sure she'd love that. We need to find out what she's going to say."

* * *

"We need to talk." Caroline said, firmly, placing herself in Hayley's way. "What are you going to say at the dedication?"

Caroline had steadfast avoided any interaction with Hayley Marshall since the girl had returned to Mystic Falls. And knowing what Klaus had so furiously kept hidden from her, the only thing she wanted to do now was punch Hayley in the face, but alas, she was blind and that would be frowned upon. But it was a daring blow to her pride, to know that Klaus had been screwing Hayley the exact time he had been screwing her. Granted, she had been in a relationship with Damon at that point as well, but there had been an understanding between her and Klaus that meant _more_ , and she couldn't help but feel that Klaus had betrayed her in some way, at the very least by keeping his clandestine relationship with his stepsister a secret from her.

Of course, with her contribution to his exile from Mystic Falls, she had probably renounced all rights to call him out on what he had done with Hayley while stringing her along, but since when had the possibility of hypocrisy stopped her? But she had seen it in his eyes that whatever blame and anger he had apportioned to the five of them for what happened to Hayley and him, he had spared her much of it due to the feelings he knew she had for him and he, in return, had for her.

But this didn't have anything to do with Klaus, at least not directly. She could settle that score when he inevitably returned to Mystic Falls. Now, she had to make sure Hayley didn't get up on that stage and sing a song about how a sadistic girl, who stole eyes and burned homes down and framed innocent bystanders, got what she was asking for.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Grayson and Miranda Gilbert wouldn't be able to make it.

There was always a perpetual pout on Hayley's mouth, as if she were continuously asking for sympathy. Caroline would understand it, given Hayley's current condition, if Hayley hadn't been an attention-seeker even before she lost her sight.

"I was going to speak from my heart." Hayley said, innocently.

Caroline didn't buy her for a single minute.

" _What do you want_?" She asked, tersely.

Hayley's mouth twitched in a bitter smile. "What I want, you can't give me." Her fingers slid together. "You and your friends are careless, Caroline. You're careless and you _break_ things." Her voice hardened. "You think you're never gonna have to pay for them."

"We _are_ paying for it, Hayley." Caroline replied, coldly. "We're paying for it every day."

"How much? Who's counting?"

Caroline sighed. "Look, you want satisfaction, or hell, revenge, and I understand that. But what you can't do, what I won't _let_ you do…" She amended, carefully. "… is to turn this dedication into some kind of club to beat up on us." She said, fiercely. "We did love her. And what happened to her was terrible. She deserves this memorial and so do we, and you don't have the right to turn it into something else."

"Elena was done with you." Hayley said, suddenly, and it was enough to make Caroline's voice stick in her throat. "Did you know that? We talked about it in the hospital. She told me why. She said she was afraid of you. Is that why one of you did what you did?" She asked, with genuine curiosity, unaware or pointedly ignorant to the way Caroline's hands were shaking.

* * *

"You were right about the weather." Caroline said, absentmindedly. "Rain starting at midnight, continuing throughout the day. I wish this was gonna be outside, in the sun."

"Are you satisfied?" Silas asked, suddenly.

"Yeah." Caroline nodded. "How about you?"

"I'll just be glad when this is over." Silas said, soberly.

Caroline frowned, reading something darker in his voice. "Are we talking about the dedication or finding out what happened to Elena?"

"Both, I guess." Silas replied. "Dedication will be fine. Thanks to you. And I lit a fire under the cops. Did you know that Klaus called Elena the night she died?"

Caroline froze and a strange discomfort made her voice hesitate as she spoke. "Nope."

"Saltzman wasn't supposed to tell me, but he was easy to shake up. Like most bullies." It was then he looked at her, directly, dark green eyes so unlike Elena's Bambi-brown. "You were the only one who ever really challenged Elena. I remember hearing the two of you... getting in each other's grills a couple times." He chuckled, lowly, but something told Caroline that it wasn't in humour. "Kept waiting for the cat fight, but it never happened."

Caroline's hands tightened on the counter. "Who do _you_ think killed Elena?" She asked, half in curiosity, half in dread.

Silas shrugged, but there was something intent in his gaze. "Police like Klaus Mikaelson. If they can't find him, they'll start liking someone else. Just someone, or someone in particular? Does it really matter?" He asked.

"I thought you said you wanted closure." Caroline said, pointedly.

"My mum still needs pills to get to sleep." Silas said, suddenly, an almost wry smile on his lips. "When they don't work... you can hear her walking around the house at three in the morning. You think you're ever really gonna have closure? Aren't you _always_ gonna be the friend of that girl who was murdered?"

"Just like you'll always be her brother." Caroline said, quietly.

Silas nodded. "That's how people will see us. They solve it or they don't, that's not gonna change... so I guess it doesn't really matter."

"But what about justice?"

His smile was full-blown. "You don't really wanna bring justice into this, do you?"

Caroline frowned, reading something more in his words. "Why not?" She asked, carefully.

"Elena told me about the fire." Caroline's heart dropped into her stomach. "About how you said the five of you should all go over... and teach Klaus a lesson. How _you_ got the stink bomb... convinced the rest of the girls to back you up. How you even threatened Klaus if he told the truth, and he was so in love with you that he did whatever you told him to."

Caroline felt like she wanted to throw up.

She swallowed hard. " _Elena_ told you that?"

Her voice sounded like it had gone through a cement-mixer.

"Yes, she did."

"Did you believe her?" She asked, hoarsely.

The way Silas looked at her, it was as if he were seeing her for the first time. "You are just like Elena, aren't you? In some ways, even worse."

* * *

"And so she tried to pin it on you?" Rebekah asked, outraged.

"That's what she told Silas." Caroline said, dryly.

"But why _you_?" Katherine asked, sharply, her fists clenched at her side.

It wasn't often that Katherine visibly showed her affection for the three girls that had become her circle nowadays, but this was definitely one of those moments that righteous anger was required. She could see it matched in Rebekah's eyes as well. Of all of them, while Rebekah and Katherine may have been capable of what Elena had instigated that summer, Caroline (and definitely Bonnie) weren't off that make at all.

And a scheme that destroyed Klaus? Caroline would never find herself at the forefront of one, in any world. No matter how much she attempted to hide her feelings for Rebekah's brother, both Rebekah and Katherine could see, plain as day, how much she cared for Klaus. Otherwise, she would never have taken the risk of going with Klaus to Homecoming, knowing that he may have been the one who killed one of her best friends, and she never would have allowed herself to be alone with him, with that suspicion still ringing through her skull. Honestly, the idea that Caroline had started the fire and then _threatened_ Klaus to take the fall, who so obviously did because the whole world and some knew that he was in love with her (and frankly, Rebekah didn't believe her brother was so lovesick, his strangely swift forgiveness for 'the Hayley thing' where Caroline was concerned aside), it was laughable.

"Because Caroline had opinions that she was never scared of voicing, and Elena wasn't exactly a fan of rebellion." Bonnie said, quietly.

Rebekah sighed. "God, this is officially insane."

Katherine narrowed her eyes. "Is that what she told Hayley when she was at the hospital?" She asked, suspiciously.

Caroline shrugged, running a tense hand through her loose blonde curls. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think so, but I don't know." She said, frustration brimming in an undertone.

Rebekah shook her head in disbelief. "Okay, so one minute, she's trying to cover it up... and the next, she's ratting us out to her _brother_?" She said, incredulously. "Like she wanted him to know the fake story in case anything happened to her. Why?"

"So they'd know who to blame." Caroline murmured, her voice a little lost as she spoke the words.

Katherine gritted her teeth, her face sour with disgust that was inappropriate towards a dead girl and her own cousin.

"God, this is still Elena's movie, and we're just filling up the screen." She said, bitterly.

* * *

Caroline braced her hands on the podium, her lips parting as she glanced down at the page that contained her speech. When she looked up at the audience, she found all words leaving her when a familiar man entered the auditorium. Katherine, Bonnie and Rebekah frowned at Caroline's white face and turned to look in the direction that she was, only to lose all conscious thought altogether as well.

"Stefan?"

Damon's younger-by-one-year-but-still-somehow-in-the-same-grade brother casually entered the room and took a seat at the back without a single word. None of the girls had seen Stefan since a few months before Elena had disappeared, when Elena had viciously dumped him, after claiming that Damon was the Salvatore brother that had actually and irreversibly stolen her heart and it was pointless to continue a charade of a relationship with the brother of her 'true love', and Stefan had immediately left Mystic Falls, in order to escape the inevitable sight that was his ex-girlfriend shacking up with his older brother.

Stefan had barely acknowledged Elena's disappearance when it had happened, which meant his presence here, now, was nothing short of suspicious.

Which was a shame, because prior to Elena's love-triangle drama, Caroline and Stefan had been quite close, and she had felt his loss quite deeply when he left town with not a single word of farewell to her.

"Um..." Caroline's voice hitched. "I can't remember not knowing Elena." She said, unwaveringly. "Not having her as a friend. She was the first person I knew long enough... that I felt I could be angry with... without worrying that I was gonna lose her. It made me feel like something was gonna last. And you need that." Her lips quirked up in a smile. "Yeah, especially when you're a kid."

"Friends can be hard on you. Maybe they expect more from you than strangers. Strangers pretty much see you the way you want them to see you..." Rebekah hesitated. "But you can't fool friends. That's what makes them friends."

Bonnie's fingers tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, as she peered out over the audience. "That corner of the park is gonna be a safe place where you can go and sit... read a book and just think. You should think about Elena while you're there. She'd wanna make sure you didn't forget about her." She murmured, wistfully.

Katherine's throat felt like razor-blades when she finally spoke. "When you do something like this, well, a memorial... it's partly because you don't understand what's happened. So you plant flowers and you paint tiles... and somewhere in the middle of all that work, you stop crying. I guess that's the point."

Finally, it was Hayley's turn to stride up to the podium, her cane clacking against the floor as she took careful steps, reminding everyone of what had happened to her.

"We think we know who we are, but we don't. Not until something bad happens to us. And then all the useless things fall away, and we're left with who we really are. I learned that from Elena Gilbert. My whole life, I thought I knew who she was. But I found out the truth when she came and talked to me at the hospital."

 _Here we go_. Caroline's hands clutched onto the edges of her seat.

"I found out that she was the _strongest_ person that I had ever met."

Equal, shocked breaths left the girls' lungs at exactly the same time.

"And it's her strength that touched so many people, shaped them. That's her _real_ legacy." Hayley said, firmly. "That's how her memory will endure. In the actions of those she inspired in so many different ways. From all of us... thank you, Elena."

When Hayley brushed past her on her way back to her seat, beside Silas of all people, Caroline's shoulder brushed against the black silk of Hayley's dress and it sent goosebumps rushing across her the lines of her skin, leaving her discomfited and no less safe from danger than before Hayley had opened her mouth. But, nonetheless, she found herself sending a quick prayer to whomever was watching over them, that Hayley didn't start a town-wide riot at a memorial by blackening a dead girl's name.

"She would've liked that you were all here. She would've liked the attention." Caroline grinned, finally, feeling both heartened and weary that she had taken the podium again to deliver one final speech. "No, actually, she would've _loved_ the attention." She amended, teasingly, and she could see the humour present on all the faces that had actually known Elena, and not those who just wanted a piece of Mystic Fall's only noteworthy incident to-date. "It would've made her laugh." She swallowed hard. "And Elena laughing... that was _amazing_."


	5. At the Dark End of the Street

**At the Dark End of the Street**

"Incontrovertible."

"Impossible to deny or disprove." Caroline said, promptly.

Katherine smiled her sly smile. "As in, your feelings for Klaus."

"Shut up, Kat." Caroline shot back, avoiding the brunette's gaze pointedly.

"Hey, if I'm hitting a nerve…" Katherine trailed off.

"If you don't shut up, _I'll_ be hitting something." Caroline threatened, slamming her locker door closed.

"Okay, if you two are quite done, is anyone else wondering why Stefan chose to return to Mystic Falls _now_?" Bonnie asked, roughly.

"Well, it could have something to do with the fact that his ex-girlfriend's dead body was just found." Rebekah said, dryly.

She had never quite gotten over the fact that Stefan had snubbed her to date Elena. Of course, she had gotten hers back when Elena had brutally dumped Stefan for his brother.

"Or he realised that the police were investigating Elena's murder and he came back to town to keep an eye on all of it because he doesn't want anyone to find out that _he did it_." Bonnie hissed.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Come on, do we really think Stefan Salvatore murdered Elena?" She asked, disbelievingly. "He's like the poster child for All American Boy."

Personally, Caroline disagreed, knowing enough of Stefan's dark days pre- and post-Brothergate that may suggest to an objective party that he had the capacity for murder. But while she thought that her old friend definitely pulled off the mysterious, secretive vibe off very well, she very much doubted he was the one to kill Elena, despite everything that had gone down between them.

"I don't think it was Stefan," Caroline said, finally. "But at the same time, I'm not too sure his resurfacing is completely innocent." She admitted, reluctantly.

"Only time will tell." Rebekah said, tonelessly, her gaze focused on the tip of her nails.

* * *

"It's nice to meet you, girls. My name is Agent Vincent Griffith. I've been enlisted by as a representative of the FBI to assist the Mystic Falls police force in the investigation of Elena Gilbert's murder." The dark-skinned man said, lightly, shaking each of their hands.

Already, the girls found themselves liking Agent Griffith a hell of a lot more than Alaric Saltzman who was currently standing in the corner of the principal's office, his arms folded across his chest, staring at them as if they were covered in Elena's blood, holding the weapon that had killed her.

 _Jackass._

"I know we've expected a great deal of cooperation from you four and believe me, we do appreciate it, but as the only four around the night that Elena Gilbert went missing, you are our best source of information, especially since the four of you probably knew her the best."

Caroline wanted to snort and tell him that they knew nothing about Elena, nothing that would help them solve her murder, because Elena was the type to know everything about you and keep her shit close to her chest. Classic control freak.

Not that she was any better, mind you, but it was the principle behind it.

"But today, we called you in because a few days ago, an anonymous source sent a video to the Rosewood Police Department and we were hoping that you would help us shed some light on a few things that we saw in it." Griffith explained.

He hit a button on the keyboard and a video started to play. The four girls leaned in as the Elena's smiling visage, bright and beguiling, appear on the screen. She called out to someone, obviously the person filming the video, and teased that he wanted to kiss her.

The video stopped and the trance was broken. The girls sank back.

"Is there anything you can tell me?" Griffith asked, gently. "Do any of you know who she may have been talking to? Was Elena dating anyone?"

 _Damon._

The name immediately came to Caroline's mind. Not that she encouraged conversation about Damon's possible infidelity with her best friend, but she had to admit that if Elena were about to sneak out from their sleepover to go and meet a guy, the likely suspect would be Damon.

But was he capable of murder? Because it was a short leap from filming the video to being the one who killed Elena.

Was it wrong that she wanted to say 'no' immediately because she didn't want to deal with the fact that she had been dating a possible murderer for over a year?

She exchanged a wary look with the other three and knew they would keep their suspicions to themselves. Putting Damon's name into the world would only backfire on Caroline, even if she had nothing to do with Elena's murder. She didn't put it past Saltzman to say that she killed Elena because Damon was screwing her behind her back.

"As far as we know," Caroline began, cautiously. "Elena wasn't dating anyone. But Elena… had a way of keeping secrets. If she were seeing someone, she may have wanted to wait before telling us."

Griffith nodded. "Fair enough. Is there anything else you think you can tell us?"

"The sweater she was wearing," Rebekah said, suddenly. "Elena didn't own one like that."

Detective Saltzman leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "How can you be so sure?" He asked, doubtfully.

Rebekah tipped her chin up, defiantly and self-importantly. "I _knew_ Elena's wardrobe, Detective," She sniffed. "And that sweater is _not_ Elena's."

Agent Griffith thanked them and allowed them to leave. On her way out, Caroline wondered why she hadn't told them about Stefan.

* * *

"Okay, we're just going for coffee, so I should be back in a few hours. But call me if you girls need anything," Liz said, briskly, making her way to the front door.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yes, mum. Have fun," She said, as an afterthought.

Liz flashed her a small smile. "Thanks, baby. See you later."

With that, she disappeared out the door and shut it behind her, locking it firmly.

"Who's she going out with?" Katherine asked, curiously.

"Mason Lockwood." Caroline sighed.

Bonnie's eyes widened. "Mason Lockwood? As in Tyler's uncle, Mason Lockwood? The one that she was dating before Elena died, that Mason Lockwood?"

Caroline nodded, slowly.

"I don't know, Care, isn't he a little… _young_ for her?" Bonnie asked, gently.

"Hey," Caroline protested. "My mum's still super hot."

"Totally, and now she's a cougar," Rebekah's lips twitched.

"A hot cougar," Caroline sniffed as if that was all that mattered. She straightened and eyed the door, nervously. "Okay, look, you _cannot_ tell anyone this, but the summer before Elena died, I… may have kissed Mason." She admitted, awkwardly.

The three girls went immobile.

"While he was still dating your mum?" Bonnie clarified in a hushed voice.

Caroline nodded, shamefully.

Rebekah closed her eyes. "Oh, my God, Care."

"I know," Caroline moaned. "Easily the worst thing I've ever done. Even worse than sleeping with Klaus while I was still dating Damon, and that was supposed to be the worst thing I've ever done," She pouted.

Katherine smirked. "You, homewrecker, you." She teased.

"Shut up, Kat, it's not funny," Caroline buried her face in her arms.

"Actually, it kind of is." Katherine snickered.

"Look, it only happened once and he and my mum broke up a few weeks later, and not because of me, okay. There was no big… affair… or anything. I just kissed him and that was it." She insisted.

"That's good," Katherine said, shrugging. "And not just because of the whole skeevy, dating-your-mum's-boyfriend thing but because I totally ship Klaroline and it would've sucked if you were just a bitch."

"Well, thanks, Kat." Caroline said, dryly.

"Any time," Katherine fluttered her eyelashes at her.

"I can't believe you _cheated_ on my brother." Rebekah snapped, unable to help herself any longer.

"I didn't _cheat_ on your brother. Your brother and I weren't even dating." Caroline argued.

"Yeah, you just cheated on Damon with two different guys." Rebekah retorted.

Caroline flinched. "Are you judging me, Bekah?"

Rebekah jumped to her feet. "Do you even _care_ about my brother, Caroline?" She demanded. "Or are you just playing with him?"

"Of course I care about him." Caroline said, fiercely. _I love him_ came to mind but the words wouldn't come out, no matter what. "I wouldn't have had sex with him if I didn't care about him, Bekah. But… it wasn't that simple." She said, awkwardly. "Damon wasn't that simple." She whispered. "And I know I've hurt Klaus and I never meant to hurt him. There isn't an excuse and I'm not going to insult our friendship or my feelings for him by giving you some lame one anyway, but if you do believe something, believe that I do care about Klaus." She said, sincerely.

Rebekah faltered, seeing honesty in Caroline's blue-green eyes. "Okay," She gave in, reluctantly. "Just… don't hurt him anymore," She said, tersely. "We may not always get along, but he's my big brother, Care. I don't want him hurt."

Caroline offered her a sad smile. "I'll try my best." She murmured. She cleared her throat. "Honestly, I'm glad you guys are taking this so well. Because, Elena thought it was awful." She said, her smile trembling just the slightest.

"Well, that was narrow-minded, self-righteous Elena Gilbert. Of course she did." Katherine waved off.

"I… should not tell my mum, right?" Caroline asked, worriedly.

"Right." All three intoned at the same time.

"Right." Caroline said, feeling silly that she had thought it was a possible option.

"Uh, Caroline, turn the TV up." Bonnie patted her on the arm, urgently.

Caroline frowned and looked at the TV, where she could see a picture of Elena flashing on the news, and grabbed the remote, turning the volume up.

" _Authorities searched the family home earlier today, and initial reports have confirmed that a bloodstain on the sweater is a match to the victim's. If you just tuned in, police have issued a warrant for the arrest of missing Mystic Falls teen Niklaus Mikaelson. He is wanted for the murder of Elena Gilbert._ "

"Bullshit." Caroline said, immediately.

"That sweater was Klaus'?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow, sceptically.

"No way," Katherine said, immediately. "There is no way Elena was dating _Klaus_."

"My brother would _never_ go out with her." Rebekah said, fiercely.

Caroline stared at the photo of Klaus that was circling the news show. Could it be him that Elena was speaking to in the video? She tried to think of a time where she remembered seeing Klaus wear the sweater that was in the video and she couldn't help but draw a blank.

"Rebekah, you saw the news. They have proof." Bonnie said, gently.

"No, they said they searched Elena's house and found the sweater, which has a bloodstain belonging to Elena. Nothing about Klaus _owning_ the sweater." Rebekah argued.

"He's been gone for _weeks_ , Bekah," Katherine began, slowly. "If he were really innocent, why attack Caroline and run away?" She pointed out.

"I know my brother, Katherine!" Rebekah snapped. "And he's not a murderer. Yeah, he may have hated Elena – and for good reason – but he's not capable of _killing_ her."

"Care, looks like you're the tie-breaker here. What do you think?" Bonnie asked, turning to a silent Caroline.

Caroline looked down at her hands. "I need to talk to Klaus." She said, simply.

* * *

Caroline slipped into the driver's seat of her car, checking her phone one last time, before she turned on the ignition and put the car into gear. She placed her phone in the glove compartment and when she looked up to check the rear-view mirror, she felt her heart jumping into her throat when she saw Klaus rise from the back seat.

"Jesus Christ!" She shrieked. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She snapped. "You almost gave me a fucking heart-attack, you jerk."

"We need to talk, Caroline." He said, simply.

Caroline held a hand to her chest as her heartbeat slowly waned into a comfortable rhythm. "Oh, he wants to _talk_." She muttered under her breath.

* * *

"September 1st is the day I ended it with Hayley." Klaus said, solemnly. "I _hated_ what we were doing, but I didn't know how to stop it." He confessed.

"Do you have any idea how it _felt_ to see that video?" Caroline asked, quietly. "I mean, I know I was with Damon but I thought you and I were… I thought we were…" She trailed off, unsure of how to finish that sentence.

"We _were_." Klaus said, deliberately.

"And then Elena was blaming you for the fire and then you got sent away and then Elena went missing and now she's dead and now you're being blamed for her murder and what am I supposed to believe, Klaus?" She asked, defiantly.

Klaus sighed. "Hayley told me she'd tell people that I forced myself on her. She didn't want it to stop." He explained, grimly.

 _Fucking bitch._ Caroline thought, viciously.

"Hayley wanted to be with you?"

Klaus' mouth twisted in distaste. "Hayley was in _love_ with me." He bit out. "She's _still_ in love with me." He paused. "I asked Elena to meet me so I could tell her that she did me a favour. She got me away from Hayley."

"Why was she wearing your sweater?" Caroline demanded, her hackles rising once more, and she was ashamed to say that jealousy was curdled there somewhere as well. "Why would Elena meet you at the Kissing Rock? We didn't go anywhere."

Klaus shook his head. "We met right outside of your cabin. I gave her my sweater because it was cold." He said, soothingly. "When I left her, she was getting in the car with some bloke, still wearing my sweater. She was very much alive." He said, pointedly.

And she believed him. God help her, but she believed him.

"You have to tell the police." Caroline said, quickly.

Klaus snorted. "You see how it looks. They've already decided I'm guilty." He shook his head. "No, I only came back to say good-bye."

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "Back from where?"

Klaus' lips twitched. "I spent a year in reform school, love," He said, gently, reminding her of the price he had paid for _her_ cowardice. "I've got mates in all the wrong places and misery loves company."

Caroline bit her lip. "You can't keep running." She protested.

"I need to get as far away from here as I can now." Klaus said, pointedly.

"But if you're innocent-"

"If?" Klaus demanded, his eyes hardening into sharp cuts of cornflower-blue. "You think I'm lying? I need you to believe me, Caroline." He said, urgently. "It's all that matters."

"But I still have so many questions." Caroline pleaded.

Klaus looked away, as if trying to fight the next decision he would make, before his jaw set. "I left my stuff behind the church. If there's any way you can come, my ride's not picking me up until midnight." He paused. "If you tell your friends, you know they'll call the cops."

* * *

"I believe him." Caroline said, adamantly.

"Of course you do," Katherine waved off. "You have no sense of self-preservation where he's concerned." She tossed the long drapes of her hair.

"I think we should tell the police." Bonnie said, firmly.

"He _just_ gave us an explanation." Rebekah protested. "He didn't kill Elena; we are _not_ turning him in."

Suddenly their phones vibrated ominously and the four exchanged worried looks. They looked down at the identical messages that flashed onto their screens.

 _The woods are so lovely, dark and deep._

 _Come find me._

 _Good luck, bitches._

 _\- A_

"I think we're supposed to go to that shed, where we all used to meet up in the woods." Katherine said, suddenly.

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "That was in the middle of nowhere."

"Actually, it was 15 steps east of the half-point tree, which is 136 steps from the main road." Caroline offered.

Katherine smiled at her, fondly. "You're a freak, and I love you." She said, sweetly.

* * *

 _Well, you're looking for me in all the wrong places._

Caroline stared down at the message. "Well, you're looking for me in all the wrong places." She mused.

"Hey, where did Katherine and Rebekah disappear to?" Bonnie asked, suddenly.

Caroline looked around, as if only now noticing that they were missing. "I don't know." She paused. "We have to go to the well. _Well_." She said, deliberately, once she saw Bonnie's blank look.

Bonnie's eyes dawned with realisation. "Lockwood's Well! I think you're actually enjoying this." She smiled at Caroline and shook her head.

Caroline cracked a smile, the first one all day. "Just a little."

They stumbled in the dark for a few minutes until they reached the decrepit well near the old Lockwood estate.

"Caroline." Bonnie said, suddenly, drawing her attention to a tree that stood opposite the well.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at the inscription drawn onto the trunk and her eyes widened. "Elena loves… _Mason_?" She breathed.

They heard a rustling in the trees and swung around.

"Bekah! We're over here." Caroline called out, hopefully.

There was the sound of leaves breaking and suddenly, a muffled scream, and Caroline was racing in the direction where it came from, Bonnie hot on her heels. They came to a stop when they found Rebekah on the ground, unconscious.

"Oh, my God, Rebekah." Bonnie whispered.

Caroline knelt beside her friend and checked her pulse. "She's not breathing." She told Bonnie, fearfully. "Come on, Bekah, get up!" She shook the girl's shoulders shoulders. She turned to Bonnie. Call 911." She instructed, fiercely.

"There's been an accident! We're in the woods, near the Lockwood's Well. Please hurry! She's not breathing." Bonnie sobbed into the phone.

"Rebekah!" Caroline called out again, tears flooding her eyes. "Please, no!"

Her phone vibrated and she had the sudden urge to throw the damn thing as far as she could, but she looked despite herself.

 _She knew too much._

 _\- A_

"Somebody! Help!" Caroline screamed.


	6. Lost Woman Song

**Lost Woman Song**

"For the last bloody time, I don't remember anything," Rebekah snapped, finally, glaring up at the detective. "It was dark, someone came out of nowhere and clipped me on the head."

"What were you doing in the woods so late, anyway?" Detective Saltzman asked.

"Trick-or-treating," Rebekah said, sarcastically.

"Ms Mikaelson," Detective Saltzman said, sternly. "This is the murder of your _best friend_ we're investigating."

Rebekah's smile was cutting. "I'm aware of that, Detective."

"Then you'll also be aware that we arrested your brother by the Old Fell Church last night as well." Detective Saltzman's glint was deliberate. "Could it be that you were in the woods to see him?"

"Well, seeing as you have my brother in custody," Rebekah said, warmly. "Why don't you ask him?"

"This isn't a game, Ms Mikaelson,"

Detective Saltzman had clearly lost his patience at this point.

"Excuse me," Caroline said, sharply. "Aren't you like supposed to do this with her dad here, or something?" Her voice was snide. "Because she's not eighteen yet."

"Ms Forbes-" Detective Saltzman began.

"I could always call my mum – the Sheriff, your boss – and ask her."

Caroline's voice was bubblegum-sweet but with a layer of grit that promised that she would follow through on her threat.

The perks of being a blonde cheerleader – people always underestimated her to be some dumb airhead with no awareness beyond which lipstick to buy (Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution, in case anyone was wondering).

Detective Saltzman gritted his teeth and buttoned his blazer, squaring his shoulders and leaving the hospital room. Caroline rolled her eyes at his dramatic, self-important exit.

"Nice use of the 'mum is the Sheriff' card, Care," Katherine said, approvingly.

Caroline shrugged. "It has its uses, from time to time." She sat down on the hospital bed, careful not to jostle Rebekah too much. "So, who hit you, Bekah?"

Rebekah groaned. "I didn't even see who did it." She muttered. "But it was a guy, I'm sure of it."

Bonnie frowned. "How do you know?"

"He was too big to be a girl," Rebekah waved off.

"It must've been Mason," Caroline said, adamantly. "We saw the carving on the tree. Who else would have wanted to threaten us so badly that we'd stop looking for Elena's murderer?"

"But A led us to that tree, so whoever knocked Rebekah out can't be A." Bonnie said, pointedly.

"Unless of course, A was just screwing with us – pretending to help us out but pulling the rug out from under us as soon as we got a little too close for his comfort." Katherine mused.

Caroline grimaced. "Which could be a definite possibility," She admitted, grudgingly. "So, should we add Mason to the list of possible phone-stalkers?"

Katherine nodded. "I vote yes."

Bonnie hesitated. "I still can't believe Elena was dating Mason Lockwood behind our backs," She shook her head. "But, right now, he looks like the number-one suspect for now." She paused. "Considering that we're discounting Klaus, right?"

"Yes!" Caroline and Rebekah snapped in unison.

"Exactly why?" Katherine asked, dryly. "The police wouldn't have arrested him for no reason, you know?"

Rebekah scowled. "Just like I knew that the sweater didn't belong to Elena, I _know_ that Nik doesn't have one like that either." She said, firmly.

"And I trust Klaus, Kat," Caroline said, quietly. "Why else would he seek me out before leaving town? I _believe_ him. And you can say that I'm just fooling myself because I have a crush on him or whatever, but Klaus wouldn't do something like this and just lie straight to my face." Her voice brooked no argument.

Katherine held her hands out in surrender. "Okay, fine, I believe you." She said, gently. "So, that leaves Mason, Stefan and Damon, right?"

Caroline grimaced. "I'm still not sure that Stefan should be on the list."

Katherine sighed. "Can we at least agree that his ill-timed arrival in Mystic Falls is suspicious?"

"Yes," Bonnie, Rebekah and Caroline agreed, the latter two rather reluctantly.

"By the way, where'd you disappear off too last night?" Caroline asked Katherine.

She and Bonnie watched, bewildered, as Rebekah and Katherine exchanged an uneasy look.

"What?" Caroline asked, suspiciously.

Katherine sighed. "Okay, I have something to tell you." She paused. "I've kind of been seeing Elijah since before the beginning of semester."

Caroline's eyes widened. "Elijah? As in Elijah Mikaelson? _Your_ brother?" She looked at Rebekah, who nodded reluctantly.

"I caught them snogging last night before I was attacked." Rebekah explained.

"He's our _teacher_ , Kat!" Bonnie cried out, scandalised.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know that, Bon."

"But-"

"Look," Katherine said, firmly. "I don't really need any judgment right now. All you need to know is that he didn't do anything I didn't want and that I really care about him, so let's just end this conversation, okay?"

"I can't believe you gave me so much crap about Klaus while you were doing the _same_ thing, but only worse!" Caroline threw her hands up in the air.

Katherine shrugged. "What can I say, riling you up over Klaus was just good entertainment."

Caroline shook her head in disbelief. "And you've been seeing him since before the semester started? How did I not realise this?"

Katherine grimaced. "Well, I'm good at hiding things." Her voice softened. "Look, I didn't mean to keep things from you guys, per se, but this is really serious. Elijah could go to jail. I just… the fewer people who knew about this, the less dangerous it was."

"Could A know?" Caroline asked, quietly.

Katherine nodded, hesitantly. "It's what they've been threatening me with."

"Well, hell," Caroline sighed.

"Tell me about it," Rebekah grumbled. "My best friends are making their way with two of my brothers. Next, Bonnie'll tell me she's dating Kol."

"Did I just hear my name?" Kol asked, cheerfully, striding into Rebekah's room.

Rebekah scowled. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at the police station with Father."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Well, you know Father, he wasn't all that keen to help Nik. But the lawyer said that they haven't pressed charges yet, and it's almost twenty-four hours, so they'll have to release him."

Caroline frowned. "If they're so sure it's him, why haven't they pressed charges yet?"

Kol smirked. "That's the sixty-four-million-dollar question, isn't it?"

Caroline pursed her lips and looked down.

Kol sighed and bumped his hip with hers. "Cheer up, darling, your Romeo will be out on the streets soon enough,"

Caroline crossed her arms over her chest, defensively. "He's not my Romeo."

Kol snorted. "Is that why he came to see you last night before he left town?" He asked, pointedly.

Caroline's brow furrowed. "How'd you know about that?" She asked, confused.

Kol shrugged. "He told me about it before he left the house."

"I didn't realise Nik and you were bonding so much, Kol," Rebekah said, her voice green with jealousy.

Kol's answering smile was taunting (honestly, sometimes Caroline wondered about the Mikaelsons – they seemed way too dysfunctional for their own good).

"Well, little sister, maybe if you hadn't framed Klaus for arson resulting in injury, he'd tell you things too."

The room was silent.

"Oh, my God, you _told_ him!" Caroline shrieked.

"Actually, darling, I'm still hurt _you_ didn't tell me." Kol pouted.

"Oh, shut up," Caroline snapped and then rounded on Rebekah. "I can't believe you _told_ him. What about best friends and keeping secrets?"

Rebekah looked down at her lap, her face suspiciously red. "I needed to talk about it to someone. And the four of us… well, we stopped hanging out after Elena went missing and Nik wasn't around and God knows Matt's no great conversationalist, and it was a really stressful time for me. So sue me, I told my brother!" She said, defensively.

Caroline sighed. "Yeah, okay, I understand." She said, reluctantly. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Rebekah said, quietly.

Caroline exhaled. "Alright then, I should be heading home. My mum's already pissed off enough because we were in the woods last night, probably shouldn't make it worse." She said, dryly. She patted Rebekah on the arm. "Feel better, okay, Bekah. And give me a ring if you need anything,"

Rebekah smiled and twirled a stray lock of blonde hair around one of her fingers. "Thanks, Care,"

* * *

When she closed the front door, her mum was just coming out of the living room.

"Caroline!" Liz squeaked with surprise, her face softening in that typical warmth that mothers had when they saw their children.

"Hey, mum," Caroline's voice was weary but she smiled nonetheless.

"Alaric just told me he left the hospital." Liz said, gently. "He said that Rebekah doesn't remember who attacked her, is that right?"

Caroline cleared her throat, which was suddenly tight. "Yeah, she said that some guy just came out of nowhere."

Much to her embarrassment, she felt her eyes flooding. And in a move that was somewhat uncharacteristic for strong-and-silent mother, she wrapped her arms around Caroline, pulling her against her. Caroline tightened her grip around her mother and wept into her shoulder, a warm hand rubbing her back.

"Is she going to be okay?"

A voice – a male voice – spoke from the banister and Caroline pulled away from her mother, looking up, only to find Mason standing upstairs at the top of the staircase, his shirt unbuttoned to his waist, chest bare and very telling.

Caroline swallowed hard and wiped at her tears. "Yeah," She said, roughly, avoiding his gaze (because, hello, this guy could've been the one to jump Rebekah and he was seeing Elena behind her mother's back right before she died and for all she knew, he could be the murderer sending her creepy, stalkerish texts). "She's a little banged up, but she'll be okay."

"That's good," Liz said, kindly, shooting a still-hovering Mason a nervous look. "Don't worry, baby, I'm sure we'll find out who hurt her." She looked up once more. "Um, I'll be up in a minute, Mason," She said, pointedly, silently urging the man to go back into the bedroom (which was definitely something Caroline didn't want to think about).

When Mason nodded and walked back inside, and Liz returned her attention to Caroline, she frowned.

"He stayed the night?" Caroline asked, sceptically, with just the slightest hint of judgment.

Liz fidgeted, awkwardly. Clearly, the whole sleeping-with-my-new-boy-toy was not a conversation she wanted to have with her daughter.

She squared her shoulders. "Well, it's not like we're strangers, honey." She said, her voice prickly. "We dated for quite a bit last year." She shook her head. "Why don't you go upstairs, huh? Get some rest."

Caroline swallowed hard. "Okay,"

Because what else could she say.

And Liz climbed the stairs to join Mason back in her bedroom and Caroline felt like rocks had dropped in her stomach.

* * *

The next morning when Caroline woke, the house was silent, indicating to her that Liz had obviously left for her shift at the station and her "boyfriend" had gone with her, leaving Caroline alone. The slightest resentment curled inside her as she wondered why her mother hadn't even considered the possibility of staying with her daughter the day after one of her best friends had gotten roughed up in the woods the night before.

But, no, duty called and Elizabeth Forbes answered.

Once Caroline finished up her morning routine (even though it was a little late to be calling it morning), she came downstairs to fix herself something to eat. She was in the middle of pulling the bowl of warm milk out of the microwave when the doorbell rang.

She bounded to the door and swung open the door with a smile.

She stilled.

"Daddy?"

* * *

"You can't just show up and-"

" _You_ asked me to come here!"

"Not to just steamroll over my parenting! I asked you to come because I thought you'd be able to get some answers out of her."

"And we got our answers. Just because they're not ones that we like doesn't mean they're not answers."

"Oh, so Caroline dating a boy currently in one of my jail cells, arrested for the murder of one of her best friends, is okay with you?"

 _Well, technically, we weren't dating_.

And her father hit the table.

"Look, I didn't know what the hell she was going to tell me when I walked in there. Was she addicted to drugs? Did this Klaus kid _rape_ her? Did he get her _pregnant_?"

Caroline grimaced.

A pause.

"But she's _alive_ and she's _fine_. Yes, she's struggling, but-"

Clearly he didn't have anything to say beyond that.

"Why didn't she tell us?"

"She was scared."

"Of _me_?"

"Of us. Of what we would say."

A scoff.

"How are you so okay with this? This could _ruin_ her life, ruin everything we ever wanted for her."

"I know!"

Another pause.

"But I can't help but thinking this beats the alternative."

"What do you mean?"

"We could be John and Isobel, burying their daughter."

* * *

When Caroline found Klaus sitting on his porch, she had to approach him.

"So they let you go?" Caroline asked, curiously.

"Not quite," Klaus' smile was sharp. He lifted up the leg of his jeans to reveal the ankle monitor strapped to his leg.

"But they still released you?"

Klaus shrugged. "Insufficient evidence, apparently."

Caroline nodded, thoughtfully. "I didn't tell them." She said, suddenly.

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't tell them where you'd be." Caroline clarified, quietly, her eyes falling to the ground.

There was no reply so she was forced to look up.

"I know." Klaus said, gently.

* * *

"I thought I told you that I didn't want you talking to her anymore."

Klaus found his shoulders tensing as he heard the clack of Jenna's walking stick coming from behind him.

"She came up to me," Klaus said, sternly.

Hayley settled next to him, with the grace of someone whose blindness was no disability to her.

"I don't care." Hayley said, coldly. "I don't want you to see her; I don't want you to talk to her."

Klaus scoffed. "Does it look like I care what you want?"

Hayley's voice turned sweet – it made him sick.

"You should be nicer to me, Nik."

Klaus gritted his teeth. "Don't call me that."

"Why?"

"Only my family calls me that."

He was struck by the image of Caroline's blonde curls brushing his arm, her heels digging into his back as she moaned _Nik_ in his ear in that low whine of hers.

Hayley pouted. "I'm your family."

"No," Klaus growled. "You are not."

Hayley clucked her tongue. "So mean, and after all the trouble I took to get you home."

Klaus frowned. "What do you mean?"

Hayley smiled – it was that dark, smug smile of hers that he hated.

"Who do you think told the police where you'd be?" She asked, mockingly.

Klaus gritted his teeth. "You bitch." He growled.

Hayley turned to him and shifted closer, her thigh warm against his. She leaned in, lips almost close to brushing his.

"You needed to be home, Klaus. With me." She cooed.

Her hand leaned up to caress his cheek, but it was caught in his unforgiving grip.

"You could chain me to this porch, but I'd still never touch you like that again." He vowed, quietly.

The slap she gave him was stinging but it made him smile nonetheless.

"You really think she'd want _you_ after you've fucked _me_?" She hissed before storming back inside.

* * *

" _I know you want to kiss me_."

" _Come closer_."

Caroline forced herself to watch as they heard Elena struggle and gasp for breath as she was killed on the other side of the camera. Once the video was finished, ending on the frame of Elena's arm limp on the ground, Caroline reached out with a trembling hand and closed her laptop screen, just as Mason walked into the kitchen, aiming for the fridge.

"How are you girls doing?" He asked, lightly, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

Caroline smiled. "Fine." She replied, as if she hadn't just seen him _murder_ her best friend on a video.

"Well, good night, then,"

He disappeared from the kitchen, leaving the four girls to breathe a sigh of relief.

"We should-" Katherine cleared her throat, still recovering from the video. "We should go to the police."

Bonnie nodded, fiercely. "I agree."

Caroline took a deep breath. "Okay, tomorrow, after school, we go straight to my mother. Yes?"

The silence was answer enough.

* * *

"He saw it."

Rebekah frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Mason. He saw the fucking video." Caroline snapped.

Bonnie frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Because my laptop is missing."

The other three stilled.

"What? How?" Katherine hissed.

"I don't know," Caroline shook her head. "It was in my bag, _with me_ , the whole day. Except for gym, when I kept it in my gym locker."

Bonnie bit her lip. "The gym teacher has access to the gym lockers." She said, quietly.

"Oh, yeah." Caroline muttered.

And, another plan bit the dust.

* * *

"Any particular reason you're hovering on my doorstep, love?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, her heart visibly aching when she saw his amused smile.

"I'm your new French tutor." She said, simply, her head tipping up defiantly.

"Oh?"

Caroline shoved the mail that she had picked up from the grass (seeing as some arsehole decided to bludgeon their mailbox) into his arms.

"Saw it on the ground," She shrugged.

"Thank you, love," He paused. "Why you?"

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather someone else?"

His cornflower-blue eyes softened. "Of course not." He chanced an uneasy look at the closed front door. "But we can't do this here."

"Because of Hayley?" Her lips twisted in disgust as she said the name.

"Unfortunately."

His face matched hers.

"I have something for you?" Caroline said, suddenly, reaching into her bag and pulling out a book.

She handed it over to him without much fanfare, and her hands immediately crossed over her chest.

"Ulysses?"

Caroline nodded, hesitantly. "I remember… that party, freshman year, you were reading it." She cleared her throat. "It's easier to learn French if you read the French translation of a book you've already read in English."

Klaus cracked a smile. "Thank you for this, love,"

His eyes were warm. It made her warm.

A window slammed closed.

Klaus gritted her teeth. "But we really can't do this here." He paused. "You should leave, Caroline," He said, urgently.

Caroline frowned, eyeing the window-in-question suspiciously. "Why are you so _scared_ of her?" She hissed.

"Just go." Klaus snapped and shoved the book against her ribcage and stormed off inside.

"Arsehole." Caroline muttered before she stomped back down the porch stairs and in the direction of her own house.

It was only much later that she opened the book, only to find a slip of paper with Klaus' calligraphy-like scrawl telling her to meet him at the motel on the outskirts of town tonight.

* * *

"Aren't you supposed to be on house arrest?" Caroline asked, tartly.

Klaus shrugged. "They've dropped the charges,"

Now, _that_ is interesting.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, apparently there's insufficient evidence. Whichever crack police officer who picked up the jumper from Elena's home didn't enter it into custody properly; the blood evidence was corrupted and therefore, they can't go to trial with it." Klaus explained. "I can't say I'm displeased."

"Yeah, you and me, both," Caroline murmured, dodging his eyes. "So, why did you ask me to come here?"

"Hayley," Klaus said, suddenly.

Caroline _seethed_.

"Honestly, I can't stay in that house any longer, not with her there." His eyes were disingenuous. "So I took up a room here instead."

Caroline frowned. "What about Kol and Rebekah?"

"Kol approved; he's always been one to say that house is toxic. And Rebekah, well, she was upset, of course, but she understood." He shifted, awkwardly. "After everything she now knows, she doesn't want me anywhere near Hayley."

 _Yeah, if I found out my stepsister was blackmailing my unwilling brother for sex, I'd be on the warpath. I'm surprised Rebekah hasn't pulled out Hayley's hair out by the roots. Not that anyone would feel bad about wiping that disaster from the face of the world._

Yes, she was being petty. No, she didn't care.

The bitch raped the guy she was seeing-not-seeing. She had the right to be ticked off.

"So, you asked me to come here why?" She paused. "Cause if you think we're going to the whole skeevy motel room sex thing, I-"

Klaus laughed (it was the warm, molasses-like laugh of his that made her giddy). "As interesting as the idea sounds, I actually called you here because Hayley's reserved the room next door."

Caroline stilled. "Okay?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "So, why would a blind girl reserve the same hotel room one day a week without telling anyone?" He hedged.

"She's trying to hide something." Caroline clarified.

"And I'm betting it has something to do with whoever wants me to go to jail for Elena's murder." Klaus said, grimly.

"So… we spy on her?"

"I prefer the term 'stake-out', but, effectively, yes."

"I didn't bring anything to sleep in." Caroline said, pointedly.

And the speed with which he divested himself of the Henley he was wearing surprised her slightly, but she wasn't ever one to shy away from the sight of that muscled abdomen of his.

"Such a gentleman." Caroline said, dryly, slipping the shirt on top of her clothes and reaching underneath to remove her own clothing.

The Henley skimmed her bare thighs and she ignored the way Klaus' eyes flashed with interest (because, hello, it wasn't like she didn't know he wanted her) and she climbed up onto the queen bed.

"What do you think she's hiding?" Caroline asked, after a moment's hesitation.

Klaus shrugged. "It could be anything."

"Do you think-do you think she had anything to do with Elena's murder?" Caroline was ashamed to say her voice trembled towards the end.

But, cut her some slack, she was like a seventeen-year-old girl whose best friend was horrifically murdered (most probably by her mother's boyfriend, whom she kissed ill-fatedly one summer) and now she was spying on a possible accomplice to the murder – the girl that she and her friends blinded one night, who was blackmailing her not-boyfriend into sex while they were seeing each other.

Klaus was solemn.

"It's possible." He said, evenly. "She doesn't like you four at all. She hated Elena even more." He paused. "But, at the same time, she's very threatened by you."

"By me?" Caroline frowned.

"Well, you are very threatening, love," Klaus teased.

"I am _not_!" Caroline argued.

"Remember the time I beat you at Scrabble," Klaus said, pointedly. "You threw the board against the wall." He chuckled, lowly. "I thought you were going to haemorrhage."

Caroline sniffed. "I'm just competitive, that's all."

Klaus snorted. "Yes, competitive, that's the word."

"Oh, shut up," Caroline grumbled.

Klaus patted her on the hand, comfortingly. "It's okay, sweetheart. I find your take-no-prisoners attitude very attractive."

That softened Caroline, remarkably. He was probably the only one who could go toe-to-toe with Caroline's killer instinct and find it _attractive_ , for God's sake.

But, like hell she'd let him know she appreciated that.

She tossed her hair. "I'm going to bed."

Klaus nodded. "I'll take the floor."

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "It's a _queen_ bed, Klaus." She said, slowly. "It's big enough for the both of us."

Klaus rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if you'd-"

"Well," Caroline interrupted, unceremoniously. "I'm telling you that we can both sleep on the bed."

Klaus paused, as if making sure she was being honest, before acquiescing and climbing up on the bed to join her.

"But, fair warning, you grope me and I will castrate you." Caroline said, lightly, lying down and slipping under the covers.

"Duly noted." Klaus said, dryly.

Once Klaus had switched off the light and the room was enveloped into darkness, there was nothing but silence. Caroline stared up at the pitch-black ceiling, unable to divert her attention from the expanse between them – not so close that they were touching, but not so far that she couldn't feel the heat of him.

Her phone rang, shrilly, and Caroline jumped, a hand pressed against her ribcage as her heart pounded in her chest. She lunged for it, sitting innocently on the bedside table, and switched it on.

"Is everything okay?" Klaus asked, lowly.

"Yeah, just… some stupid text." Caroline muttered, looking down at the screen.

Her muscles coiled with fury.

Caroline gritted her teeth.

 _Careful, Caroline, all that cosy time you're spending with your jailbird boy-toy, you wouldn't want another date with the coathanger._

– _A_


	7. The Last Waltz

Wow, okay, I do have to apologise for waiting five months before an update for this series. Anyway, this covers the last few episodes of Season 1, so the end of the first part, at least, and we'll be heading into Season 2 now.

Warnings: some frank discussion of rape, assault of a blind person, assault of a woman by a man.

* * *

 **The Last Waltz**

The next morning, Caroline found herself in a _very_ awkward position.

Her arm was carelessly thrown across Klaus' stomach, bare of any shirt, so that her palm was pressed against his warm flank and she could feel the ridges in his abdomen against her forearm. His hand was on her shoulder, fingers jutting into her collarbone and twisted amongst her loose blonde waves. Their legs were entwined, warm and soft and boneless from sleep, and it was the most peaceful she had been in months.

But it wasn't to last, so she pulled away, slowly, careful not to wake him as she did. She rolled out of the covers and slunk off into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her, which promptly woke up Klaus, his eyes bleary as they searched in the direction of what had roused him.

However, it was the ominous sound of the outside ice machine being handled that had Caroline stumbling out of the bathroom, her hair a rat's nest of sunshine, one side of the Henley he had lent her slipping off a shoulder. They exchanged a worried, hopeful look and swept outside the door without much ceremony.

They crouched behind the ice machine, staring into the door of the room beside them, ajar and the sound of an ominous flute melody creeping towards them. Slowly, Klaus began to approach around the ice machine, Caroline hot on his heels, and pushed open the door slowly, warily discerning the room for threats. Caroline slipped inside after him and shut the door behind her, turning around to find the music coming from a CD player on top of the TV cabinet. Caroline took a deep breath and went over to switch it off, while Klaus made for the bag placed on top of the bed.

"You're getting colder," Klaus said, suddenly.

"What?" Caroline demanded, rushing over to the bed to peer into the bag, onto to find it half-filled with ice and a sticky note plastered on top, signed by _A_.

"Who's A?" Klaus asked, confused.

Caroline swallowed hard. "No clue." She lied straight through her teeth.

* * *

Needless to say, accusing her mother's current boyfriend of murdering her best friend (who was seeing him at the time of said murder) didn't end so well for her. Other than making her mother incredibly disappointed in her (which wasn't so different from the norm, but she had to admit it stung that her mother thought she was lying), it didn't do much in the way of getting rid of Mason, especially since that the tree that had been proof of the Elason relationship had miraculously been cut down in the time between Caroline and Bonnie finding the carving and Caroline going to the police with the information, but it had also been integral in outing the fact that Caroline had _also_ been seeing Mason that summer (and wasn't that just awkward).

This, of course, had led to a complete shut-out from her mother, who was not only angry at her for macking on her boyfriend over a year ago, but 'lying' to the police that said boyfriend was a teenage-girl-screwing murderer.

Which _hurt_ , because Liz Forbes (no matter what her faults) was still her mother, the only mother she had, and knowing that her own mother didn't believe her, well, it wasn't the easiest thing for her to bear.

But it left her trapped in her room, grounded for being a compulsive liar, not that physical contact meant for much in the age of Skype and Facebook, but it was annoying.

She hid her glee when Klaus climbed through her window that night, without a care in the world, as if he wasn't a guy almost charged with murder and this wasn't the Sheriff's house.

* * *

"So, how's the house arrest going?" Katherine asked, curiously, touching up her glossed mouth.

"Boring," Caroline muttered as she washed her hands.

Rebekah snorted. "Doubtful, considering the surprise visitor she's been having every night."

Katherine and Bonnie immediately rounded on her and Caroline vividly resisted the urge to pull on Rebekah's hair like they were still four-year-olds in the sandbox.

Katherine looked absolutely devilish. "Klaus has been sneaking into your room at night?"

Caroline grimaced. "Look, it's not like that. We just… _talk_. That's it. We're both kind of Public Enemy Number One right now in Mystic Falls, remember?" She turned to Rebekah. "And how did you even know that, anyway? 'Cause he's not even living at your house anymore."

Rebekah shrugged. "Kol knows all. And he was very forthcoming."

Caroline wondered if Rebekah and Klaus would be angry at her if she went at Kol's kneecaps with a baseball bat. Although, knowing the Mikaelsons, they'd just find that funny.

"Nothing happened," Caroline said, firmly.

The door to the bathroom opened and they all fell silent, as Hayley's cane clacked against the linoleum. Hayley proceeded to the wash basin, smoothly, and began to wash her hands.

"I hope, for your sake, that nothing _did_ happen, Caroline," Hayley said, coldly, staring emptily through her sunglasses at her own reflecting in the bathroom mirror. "I know you're easy and all, but don't you think it's a little desperate to invite him up to your bedroom?" Her lip curled. "The _last_ thing Nik needs right now is to get caught up in _your_ mess. He's _still_ dealing with the stigma of being an alleged murderer, not to mention 'rapist' after Homecoming. Haven't you done enough already? Who knows what your mum will say to get him thrown in jail when she finally catches you two? Your string of exes prove that _you're_ bad news."

Caroline saw red. She saw that damnable video. She saw the way Klaus' muscles had braced when Hayley had slid a hand across his bare flank, as if he couldn't bear for her to touch him. She saw the way he had avoided her gaze after she told him she had seen the video, as if he had something to be _ashamed_ about, as if Hayley hadn't _raped_ him and made him think _he_ was the aggressor.

And now, she had the nerve to stand here, content in her disability as if it were a shield, and claim that _she_ was bad news, _she_ was the reason Klaus was whispered about, when Hayley had put her hands on a guy who _didn't_ want her, who _hadn't_ wanted her and who would _never_ want her, under penalty of brutal retribution that would ruin his life.

Hayley called him _Nik_ – she had no right to that name.

Caroline strode forwards until she was standing right in front of Hayley, who had turned to face her direction when she heard Caroline's approach. Caroline lashed out and slapped Hayley across the face, hard enough that her sunglasses felt off. Hayley was left standing there stunned and vulnerable, her eyes sunken inside her skull and eerily glazed over. Caroline took a deep breath, fingers twitching in regret, and she kneeled down, scooping up Hayley's fallen shades. She grabbed Hayley's wrist, roughly, and placed the sunglasses in her upturned palm, closing Hayley's fingers around them.

She leaned in.

"Threatening guys with a rape charge is how _you_ get guys to have sex with you, Hayley. Not me."

It was cheap and crude and a low blow and it probably even diminished Klaus' trauma at Hayley's hands, but _it felt good_ , it felt like justice.

She did it for Klaus.

* * *

Her mother had broken her unofficial house arrest to force her to accompany her and Mason to the Founders' Day festival (despite her protests that it was hardly appropriate for her to tag along on her mother's date, especially considering that said date was with a guy that she _used_ to fool around with, which her mother was very much aware of).

She knew that her friends would be there as well, of course (it was the Founders' Day festival; in Mystic Falls, that was the equivalent of the ball dropping on New Years' Eve in New York), but she doubted that her mother would let her leave her side to even go and meet up with them.

All she was missing was the ankle monitor.

She let her mother and Mason go on ahead, while she followed behind them at a steady pace, not too slow that her mother could accuse her of trying to run away, but not too fast that she could actually hear their conversation (the whole situation was awkward enough without having to actually listen in on their date).

Her phone buzzed and she looked down, seeing a message from Klaus, asking her to meet him in the haunted house. For a moment, she was confused – of all the places to meet up, the haunted house was definitely a strange choice, and to be honest, not really a romantic one either. But, she mused, it would certainly be somewhere her mother wouldn't follow. Her mother _hated_ haunted houses. She hated the idea of walking into some dimly lit tunnel of rooms that were designed to throw her off guard. And if she were feeling particular off her game, she might even pull out her gun and shatter a few mirrors in the process.

She slowed her pace down somewhat and waited a few minutes to make sure her mother and Mason wouldn't look back, before quietly slipping away and going off in a completely different direction. Finally, she entered the haunted house, squinting into the darkness as bright lights flashed around her, distorting her senses. There were a few people ahead of her, but she ignored them, focusing on the sound of feet taking each steep, as the bulbs at every archway flashed repeatedly at her crossing. Creepy clown laughter drifted over the intercoms and suddenly, two large white hands slid out of a hand on the wall, completely blocking her escape from either ends. She cringed, slightly, curling in on herself, until the hands withdrew and it was safe to keep walking.

She licked her lips. "Klaus? Are you in here?" She called out.

She opened a door into a room which was filled with red. Fake smoke was thick around her, as if she were in a boiler room. The lights turned blue and a clown was revealed hanging from the ceiling, face plastic but the flesh seemingly eaten as if it were a zombie. She grimaced and recoiled as it cackled cruelly.

And that was when she spotted the words painted in red on the wall.

 _Having any fun yet_?

 _Shut up, or I'll shut you up._

– _A._

She felt the fear like ice and she immediately trying to leave, calling out for Klaus once more. In her attempt to flee the room, she found herself stuck in a small, rounded hatch, just big enough for one person. But she couldn't open the other side. Her throat went thick and she bit back the urge to cry, tears already stinging her eyes. She banged on the door with her fists.

"Hello?" She called out. "Is someone out there? Can someone please get me out of here?" She asked, her voice rising in its panic.

Minutes passed and no one came to get her.

"HELP!" She screamed, her hands shaking.

The fear felt like it would sweep her up any second now. Hell, she didn't even realise she was claustrophobic until now.

"Please! Someone open the door!"

She curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around herself, as she vainly tried to get her breathing under control. She heard the sound of metal and her eyes snapped open.

"Nik? Is that you, Nik?" She called out, hopefully, in a small voice.

The hatch slid open and Mason was looming over her, a crowbar in his hands. Caroline gasped and pressed herself back against the wall, but there was nowhere else to flee. He was blocking her only exit.

"Mason?" Caroline heard her mother's voice in the distance.

Mason turned in that direction. "Yeah, I've got her. She's fine."

Liz came running up, followed by Mrs Lockwood (which Caroline was surprised by, considering she didn't think that Carol Lockwood exactly approved of the relationship between her brother-in-law and Liz), just as Mason knelt and snatched up her phone. The moment she saw her mother, she stumbled out of the hatch and threw herself into Liz's arms, still shaking as the panic slowly faded away like a cold trickle.

"You had to use a crowbar to get her out?" Her mother's voice was muffled, as if she weren't actually here and holding onto Caroline with a death-grip.

"It's what was keeping her _in_ ," Mason replied, as if he were outraged by the idea.

Caroline knew better though.

He was probably the person who had put it there.

Her phone sounded and Caroline took it from Mason's hands, unceremoniously, glancing down at here to see a message from Klaus.

 _I'm here. Where can I find you?_

– _Klaus._

"Nobody goes in here until you figure this out. My girlfriend's daughter could've been seriously hurt," She heard Mason arguing with one of the haunted house's staff, as she slowly walked away.

She remained curled in on herself as she walked pass the still flashing strobe lights, dodging anyone who came in the opposite direction. When she stepped out, she swayed slightly as she took a huge gulp of cold, fresh air. She didn't even that her face was slowly freezing over. She didn't ever want to feel that trapped and helpless ever again, the air burning in her lungs as she fought to breathe.

She saw Klaus standing there, just outside the haunted house and she desperately wanted to rush to him, when her mother and Mason came out as well, followed by Carol Lockwood as well. Her mother and Mrs Lockwood spotted Klaus, both faces twisting in disapproval. Her mother tugged on Caroline's arm.

"Come on, honey, let's go," Liz said, firmly.

Caroline flinched and hung her head, preparing to follow her mother. But she couldn't seem to take her eyes off Klaus' face, seeing something akin to hope glinting in his eyes – hope that she would choose him. She stayed there, standing, her feet stuck to the ground, and only broke the eye contact when her mother called her name once more.

She began to follow her mother and Mason and Mrs Lockwood. But only a few steps later, she stopped and turned back to Klaus, who was still standing there, his hands in his jacket pockets. Before she could even make the decision, she was striding back in his direction, to the point where she could've even been running. She didn't stop until she hurtled into his arms and he held her close. She felt the tears snap then and there and she buried her face in his jacket, her breath coming out of her lungs in sharp, stilted gasps.

"It's okay," He hushed her, quietly. "It's fine. I'm here now. You're safe, Caroline."

She could feel the judgmental eyes of her mother and Mrs Lockwood (who already had a bit of a grudge against her, after she, you know, accused her brother-in-law of being a skeevy, teenage-girl-dating murderer of said teenage girl) looking on, but she didn't seem to care.

Finally, she pulled away only to kiss him firmly on the mouth, the first time they had touched like this in over a year and she felt _alive._

She had missed him something fierce and she hadn't even realised just how much.

He clutched at the curve of her hips through her jacket and moulded his mouth against hers the way he used to in those coat closets during those drunken hook-ups. They'd never had the courage to do _this_ in public before, and it felt _good_. It felt good to do as she liked, with whom she liked, no matter what her mother or Mrs Lockwood or those judgy, in-desperate-need-of-good-sex people thought.

She felt _proud_ , standing here. Damon had never made her feel proud. He had made her feel ashamed and awkward and disgusted in herself for feeling all of those things because _shouldn't she be happy she was with him_?

Finally, the need to breathe became a little too great for them to just ignore and they broke apart. Caroline fisted her hand in the front of his jacket, unwilling to let him go (the last time she had, it hadn't ended so well for either of them), even when she heard footsteps approaching them.

"Caroline," Her mother said, clipped. "It's time to go."

Caroline didn't need to turn her head to know that her mother was glaring at both of them.

"I'm staying with Klaus," She told her mother, firmly.

"Caroline," Liz raised her voice.

Caroline looked at her mother, resolute in her decision. "I'm _staying_ with Klaus." She said, stubbornly.

Let her mother try and drag her away; she'd have one hell of a fight on her hands.

As if reading her mind, Klaus gripped at her hand like she'd be pulled from his hold, prepared to go to war right beside her.

"This isn't going to help you, Caroline," Liz argued, quietly. "You're already in so much trouble. Do you want to make things worse for yourself?"

Caroline shook her head. "The only person making things worse for me is _you_." She snapped.

Liz looked like Caroline had just slapped across her face, but Caroline didn't care. Mason came up to them and Caroline felt Klaus tense under her hand. She didn't have to look at him to know that he was glaring daggers at Mason, wishing he were dead. Mason put a hand on Liz's shoulder.

"Come on, Liz," Mason soothed. "Let them go. I'm sure Caroline will come home when she's done." He looked steadily at Caroline, as if daring her to argue.

Caroline nodded, stiffly. Finally, under Mason's word, Liz drew away, not before shooting Caroline one hell of betrayed, worried look. Once her mother and Mason and Mrs Lockwood (who looked keen enough that Caroline knew that she'd be the next topic of conversation at the woman's next sewing circle or whatever it was that middle-aged upper middle-class women in Mystic Falls did when they had no job to go to and husbands who screwed their secretaries more often than they screwed them) left them there, Caroline turned back into Klaus' embrace, fitting her nose against where his collarbone was.

"What happened?" He asked, lowly, worriedly.

His concern made her smile, even if she was still trembling.

"I got stuck in the haunted house," Caroline murmured. "There was this hatch and the door wouldn't open…" She trailed off, unable to finish.

Klaus' fingers twisted in her hair. "You're out now, love."

"Yeah," Caroline sighed. "I know."

"And you kissed me."

"Yeah."

"Is that all you're going to say?" Klaus asked, curiously.

Caroline's shoulders slumped. "Can we do this like not now?"

She looked up to see Klaus' face twist.

"Yes, fine. Later."

The sound of running footsteps made her look, only to find Rebekah and Katherine pushing past a myriad of people in attempt to reach her. She pulled away from Klaus (albeit reluctantly), just as the two girls landed in front of her.

"We need to go," Katherine said, quickly.

"Why?" Caroline frowned.

"Bonnie found something," Rebekah told her.

"Found something as in…" Caroline trailed off, pointedly.

"Found _something_ ," Katherine returned, just as pointedly.

Caroline grimaced. "Great. Okay, let's go."

"Wait," Klaus protested. "What are you four up to now?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Nik, we'll get your home skillet back to you as soon as possible." She drawled.

Caroline choked. "What are you, a twelve-year-old in the 2000s?"

"Just _come_ ," Katherine urged, pulling on her arm.

Caroline groaned. "You are such a cockblock." She muttered, glaring at the brunette, who rolled her eyes. She rounded on Klaus, who was smirking at her. " _Not_ that there was going to be anything worthy of a cockblocking nature. Capische?"

Klaus inclined his head, innocently, but she didn't believe the whole 'wide-eyed school boy' shtick for a second.

She sighed and kissed him, quickly, once more. "I'll call you when I get home." She promised, and he nodded. She turned back to the girls. "Let's go." She motioned for the other two to go ahead, and they began walking away.

Katherine stopped in her tracks, suddenly, and grimaced. "Oh, yeah, wait, you need to go get Bonnie's phone."

"What?" Caroline asked, her voice rising in incredulity.

"Yeah, she left it at the church," Rebekah shrugged.

"Why do _I_ have to go get it?" Caroline demanded.

"Because you didn't answer your damn phone," Katherine retorted, sharply. "Ergo, you get the short stick."

"For fuck's sake," Caroline cursed. "Great, fine, I'll go get it. Where do I meet you?"

Rebekah rattled off an address.

Caroline frowned. "Where is that?"

"Bonnie found a key to a storage unit, underneath a snow globe that _Elena_ gave her the summer before she died," Rebekah said, slowly, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation. "Meet us there once you have Bonnie's phone."

"Can't we just go get her phone _after_ we visit the storage unit?" Caroline asked, pointedly.

"You really think it's wise for her to go around missing her _phone_ for much longer?" Katherine shot back. "What if A finds her?"

Caroline bit her tongue, because she couldn't really argue against that. But call her a coward, _she_ didn't want to be the one on her lonesome, not when there was a creepy-text-messaging sociopath on the loose in Mystic Falls.

"Fine," She relented. "At least I have my phone. I'll meet you guys at the storage unit once I get Bonnie's phone."

* * *

The door to the church creaked open as Caroline pushed. She went inside, into total darkness, calling out for Pastor Young, hoping that he would return her call. She started to peruse through the pews, looking for Bonnie's phone.

"Looking for something?"

Caroline's heart caught in her throat and she swung around, only to come face to face with Mason, looming over her with his arms crossed over his chest. There was a flat, empty look to his eyes and it scared her a little bit, so she took a wary step backwards.

She tipped her chin up in defiance. "Just for Bonnie's phone. She left it here."

Mason hummed, as if accepting her explanation. He looked around, pointedly. "Where's your jailbird boyfriend? He didn't come with you?"

"He's not my _pet_ ," Caroline retorted. "He doesn't follow me around wherever I go." She eyed him, hatefully. "Why are you here, anyway? I thought you were with my mum, on a date."

"I was," Mason cocked his head. "Then I dropped her off."

"And you came to the church?" Caroline asked, sceptically. "Why? For some late-night confession?"

Mason's lips twitched. "I thought we should have a little talk." He said, smoothly.

 _That_ raised the hair on the back of her neck.

"About what?" Caroline asked, coldly.

"Just… some boundaries," Mason offered, taking a step closer to her.

Caroline promptly took a step back.

Mason sighed. "Look, Caroline, I really like your mum, and I don't want anything," He looked at her, pointedly. "Or _anyone_ , to ruin what we have."

"You think I'm going to ruin _what you have_?" Caroline asked, mockingly.

"I think you're poking into things better left alone," Mason said, lowly.

"Like what?" Caroline challenged.

She slid a hand into her coat pocket, as soon as the phone buzzing started. She didn't know who was on the other end, but she simply answered the call without looking, hoping whomever was calling her was a friendly.

Mason smiled. "Come on, Caroline. I know it must be… awkward… to see me with your mother, especially after everything _we_ shared-"

Caroline baulked at that – _it was one kiss_!

"Don't you think it's better if we all just _move on_?" Mason soothed, as if _she_ were the problem. "I mean, after everything that happened with your dad, doesn't your mother deserve to be happy, with a guy that really likes her?"

Caroline snorted. "And _you're_ that guy?" She asked, sceptically.

Mason smirked. "I'm not that bad."

"I don't know," Caroline said, sharply. "Considering you were the guy my dead best friend was seeing right before she died."

Mason's jaw tightened and Caroline knew she had hit a nerve.

"I mean, the video of you and Elena, not to mention that whole Sweetie Graffiti thing in the woods. _Elena loves Mason_. I wonder what the police – and by that, yes, I mean my mother – are going to think. Aren't boyfriends always the first suspect when a pretty, teenage girl goes missing and ends up _dead_?"

Mason's smile was cold as he sauntered towards her.

"If you really had proof of any of that, you'd have gone to the police already," He taunted, watching in barely disguised glee as she shrunk away from him, quickly, going around the pews as fast as she could without actually running.

"Yeah, but when they haul you in for questioning, you're going to be singing like a canary," Caroline hissed.

 _He killed Elena. HE KILLED ELENA. He deserves this._

"You already tried that once, remember, Caroline," Mason said, pointedly. "The police don't believe you and your little friends. Especially after they found out that we… _you know_ …" He trailed off, lasciviously.

She had done more in a coat closet with Klaus that first time when she was fifteen than she had ever done with Mason Lockwood.

"What if I said I found another copy?" Caroline challenged, completely lying through her teeth, but no one said that Mason had to know that.

Mason stilled. "You're lying." He said, coldly.

Caroline's grin sharpened. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Mason sighed, just as Caroline's feet hit the staircase that led up to the belltower at the back of the altar.

"The thing is, Caroline, for any of that to happen, you actually have to make it to the police station."

That was when Mason lunged for her and Caroline screamed. She dodged just as his arms came for, racing up the stairs to the tower. She came up to the rafters and desperately searched for a way out, but found nothing. She spun on her feet just in time to see Mason reaching the top of the stairs.

"I'll make it quick, Caroline," He said, grimly, stalking forwards. "I mean, it's not even that strange. You're already days away from being arrested for Elena's murder. You finally decided enough was enough, and you couldn't deal with the guilt of killing your best friend. Elena's dead, you'll be dead and life… _will go on_."

He seized her by her hair, despite her shouts of protests (there was no one there to hear her anyway), and yanked her to where the bell was swaying over the open column.

"Don't worry, Caroline, it'll be quick," He said, gently. "One quick snap when your head hits the ground and it'll be over."

Caroline struggled. "Yeah, I bet this isn't your first rodeo." She gritted out.

Mason rolled his eyes. "I'd say this is harder than it looks and it'll give me nightmares for the rest of my life, but getting rid of you, you mouthy bitch, is definitely going to be one of the highlights of my day."

"Yeah, well, I aim to please," She retorted, spitefully, thrashing as much as she could in his hold, but he weighed a good thirty kilograms more than she did and his grip on her hair was beginning to _hurt_.

Hell, even kicking him in the shins wasn't doing much of an effect.

Mason scowled and kicked her legs out from underneath her, making her slip forwards and off the ledge of the column. She grappled in air for a few, sickening moments, left completely in the lurch and thinking she was about to die, but she didn't know what higher power was smiling down on her or which old lady she must have helped across the street in a former life, but suddenly she was gripping onto the ledge with both hands, for dear life.

"Shit!" She screamed, her legs swaying in the air just beside the bell.

Mason groaned and walked over to the ledge she was currently gripping onto in fear of death and knelt in front of her.

"You just won't fucking die, will you?" He shook his head. "Oh, well, your lucky streak had to end somewhere." He leaned in, all catty and amused, and Caroline had a sudden flash of Regina George just before the bus hit her. "Don't worry, I'll take care of your mum. She won't even miss you when you're gone."

Just as he was about to pry her fingers off the edge, a black-clad figure appeared behind him, much to Caroline's terror and confusion.

Mason looked up, his brow furrowed, looking just as bewildered by the figure's presence as Caroline was.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

The black-clad figure remained silent and simply kicked Mason with such force that he toppled over the ledge instead of a bemused Caroline.

The bell tolled.

When she looked down, out of some morbid curiosity, she saw that Mason had managed to get himself strangled by the myriad of ropes that held the church bell lofty in the air. When she looked back up, Mason's murderer was no longer there, and she was the only one left. With a surprising amount of upper-body strength that she didn't even know she had, Caroline managed to pull herself up over the ledge, so that she was lying down with her legs dangling off the edge. There was the sound of more footsteps, and Caroline tensed, looking up to see Rebekah, Katherine and Bonnie run up the stairs of the bell tower.

"You came," Caroline said, dazed.

Rebekah held up her phone. "You answered my call. We heard everything." She looked around. "Where's Mason?"

Caroline pointed to the open column and the other three looked over the edge, only to find Mason's body, already pale, swaying sinisterly in the ropes. They grimaced and Caroline could even see that his death (no matter how deserved it had been) had struck all of them, not just Caroline, who would never forget that moment of freefall when she thought she was going to die.

Rebekah knelt beside Caroline, gripping onto her hand fiercely. "You did what you had to do." She said, firmly, knowing that Caroline was the kind of person who would feel guilty, even if Mason had been a colossal bastard who would've killed her with a smile on his face.

"No," Caroline said, dully. "I didn't. It wasn't me."

Bonnie frowned. "But Care, there's no one else here. Who did it?"

"I don't know," Caroline murmured. "I only saw someone in black." Her hands were still shaking when she looked down at them. "Mason killed Elena. He killed Elena and he was going to kill me." She looked up at the other girls. "And he would've lied to my mother about it too and she would never have known that _he killed me_."

The three girls helped pull Caroline, still shaking, to her feet. Surprisingly, it was Katherine who opened her arms, into which Caroline fell, clutching onto her friend for dear life, as she trembled. There were no tears; Caroline feared she had no more strength for tears.

To say that today had been a long day would have been an understatement.

What seemed like hours later, the girls stumbled out of the church, holding onto each other for comfort. As they tried to push past the police officers that had gathered there (Caroline determinedly did _not_ look for her mother – that was a conversation she had no interest in having at that moment) and the gawking citizens of Mystic Falls, Deputy Sheriff Jess called them back.

"Do you girls think this is funny?" He asked them, sternly.

The four exchanged a confused look, so he motioned for them to follow him back into the church (something which Caroline was utterly reluctant to do). Once they were back inside the bell tower, they understood the Deputy's annoyance.

Mason's body no longer hung where they had left him.

Only empty ropes dangled from the ceiling, with no body strung up in them.

When they came out of the church for the second time and proceeded towards where the yellow police tape had stretched out around the perimeter, where the curious townspeople were still muttering to themselves, looking at the four girls with a new suspicion (the word 'lying' had been tossed around a lot), their phone buzzed.

Caroline closed her eyes.

 _No. Not now. Please, not now. This was supposed to be over. Why isn't it fucking over?_

They all exchanged an identical look of dread, and pulled out their phones.

"Oh, my God," Bonnie moaned.

"But I thought-" Katherine gritted out.

 _It's not over until I say it is._

 _Sleep tight while you still can, bitches._

– _A._


End file.
